Painter to the King - Background and General (no spoilers) (Aug 2019)

[Hugh]

This is the background thread for the discussion of Painter to the King - I will start the spoiler threads tomorrow, so please don't post spoilers here (if there is such a thing as a spoiler in this case).

Painter to the King is the third novel by Amy Sackville, a fairly young British writer. I have now read all three and they are all very different and all worth reading. It explores the life story of the 17th century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, and the parallel story of the reign of Philip IV and his court, largely through the surviving pictures, with occasional authorial interjections about her own reactions to the paintings and to her visits to the places involved.

I am a little nervous about whether this discussion will generate any interest, so please let me know if you are intending to participate.

A few reviews:
The Guardian
Irish Times
Financial Times
Spectator

Some background Wikipedia articles which I found useful (not being an expert on either the art or the Spanish history):
Diego Velázquez
Philip IV of Spain
Works by Diego Velázquez (where you can see most of the paintings Sackville discusses)
The Royal Alcázar of Madrid
Buen Retiro Palace
The Count-Duke
Elisabeth of France
Mariana of Austria
Amy Sackville

[LindaJ^]

I intend to participate but it will not be for a couple of weeks. I only had room for Ducks in my backpack so won’t be able to start Painter for a couple of weeks.

[Hugh]

Thanks Linda - will look forward to that, and I understand why you need to read Ducks first, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Pamela]

I intend to participate but haven't yet caught up on all my Group reads after my holiday, so will probably be starting in a week or so.

[Hugh]

Thanks Pamela!

[LindaJ^]

I love Madrid and it is the European city I have visited the most. Until reading this book, I did not appreciate that Retiro Park was actually where the summer "palace" was. It is not very far from the palace itself. It is an amazing park - huge. After reading this book, I have a great reason to return to Madrid and see the Velázquez paintings in the Prado. While I have been to the Prado, our focus was not on Velázquez.