ART

A group of 20 paintings by the famed Diego Velazquez will be lent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by Prado in Madrid, the New York Times reported Monday. The works--spanning the entire creative range of the artist’s collection--will be part of a series of shows spotlighting Spanish paintings beginning Sept. 15. The close relationship between the Met and Prado began after John Brealey--head of conservation at the Met--went to Madrid in 1984 to clean “Las Meninias,� Velazquez’s masterpiece, which is frequently thought of as the greatest of all Spanish paintings.