This book covers 250 years of painting in Spain starting with works created at the splendid sixteenth-century court of Philip II to those produced at the Hapsburg and Bourbon courts of Madrid, and in the cities of Seville, Valencia, and Toledo. The result was an art of extraordinary stature and international scope. With the aid of 116 illustrations, most in color, Janis Tomlinson traces the myriad influences reflected in the paintings of generations of artists from Sofonisba Anguissola, El Greco, Velásquez, and Zubarán to the unique accomplishment of Francisco Goya.