The Waterseller of Seville

Velázquez was 20 when he painted this. An old waterseller offers a glass of cold water to a boy. On the glass, a fig has been added to sweeten the taste. On the outside of the large earthenware jar in the foreground, beads of condensation run down its curve — visible drops picked out with millimetre precision. The jar is cold. The water inside is cold. The glass is cold. Velázquez painted the whole physics of a hot Sevillian summer in those drops. Wellington later carried the painting back to London as war booty. It never went home. Now at Apsley House, London @englishheritage