A peace treaty between France and Spain is consummated in 1660 by the marriage of Louis XIV with Maria Theresa, the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and Elizabeth of France.

The ceremony takes place on the Island of Pheasants, a small swampy island in the Bidassoa on the riverine border of France and Spain.

The renowned painter Diego Velázquez, charged with the decoration of the Spanish pavilion and with the entire scenic display, attracts much attention from the nobility of his bearing and the splendor of his costume.

He had returned to Madrid on June 26, and on July 31 he had been stricken with fever.

Feeling his end approaching, he signs his will, appointing as his sole executors his wife and his firm friend named Fuensalida, keeper of the royal records.

He dies on August 6, 1660, at sixty-one.