Baptised on 6 June 1599 in Seville where he studied briefly under Francisco Herrera the Elder in 1610 and with Francisco Pacheco 1611-17. In 1618 he married Pacheco's daughter, Juana de Miranda, by whom he had two daughters, born in 1619 and 1621. In 1623 he was summoned by the King's First Minister, Olivares (see P109), to Madrid, and in October was appointed painter to the King. He remained attached to the Court of Philip IV for the rest of his life, engaged principally in portraiture, and holding a succession of Court appointments: Gentleman Usher 1627, Gentleman of the Wardrobe 1636, Gentleman of the Bedchamber 1643, and Palace Chamberlain 1652.

In 1628/9 he met Rubens in Madrid. He travelled twice to Italy, in 1629-3 when he copied works by Tintoretto, Raphael and Michelangelo, and in 1649-51 when he was mainly engaged in collecting works of art for the King. Velázquez owned a mixed-race enslaved person, Juan de Pareja, who served as his studio assistant. Velázquez freed Pareja in 1654 after which Pareja became an independent artist. In 1659 Velázquez was made a Knight of Santiago and in 1660 he went to Spain to supervise the marriage ceremonials of the Infanta Maria Teresa with Louis XIV of France. He died in Madrid on 6 August 1660.