I, Juan de Pareja: The Story of a Great Painter and the Slave He Helped Become a Great Artist

When the great Velázquez was painting his masterpieces at the Spanish court in the seventeenth century, his colors were expertly mixed and his canvases carefully prepared by his slave, Juan de Pareja. In a vibrant novel which depicts both the beauty and the cruelty of the time and place, Elizabeth Borton de Treviño tells the story of Juan, who was born a slave and died an accomplished and respected artist.

Upon the death of his indulgent mistress in Seville, Juan de Pareja was uprooted from...