Velázquez Rediscovered

Velázquez, Diego, with essays by Jonathan Brown and Michael Gallagher, and an introduction by Keith Christiansen (2009)

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Description

Velázquez Rediscovered documents the recent cleaning of Diego Velázquez's (Spanish, 1599–1660) Portrait of a Man, which has revealed it as a picture of astonishing freshness and striking presence, undeniably an autograph work by the seventeenth-century Spanish master. In his introduction, Keith Christiansen describes the provenance of the portrait, the vicissitudes of its attribution since it was first considered by the scholar August L. Mayer in 1917, and his own acquaintance with the painting over three decades, which culminated in the transformative cleaning in the summer of 2009. Jonathan Brown, the leading Velázquez scholar of our time, offers an intriguing identification of the sitter, while conservator Michael Gallagher presents an illuminating account of his cleaning and restoration of the work. Included among the illustrations are other relevant paintings by the artist, including Las Meninas and the Surrender of Breda; reproductions from periodicals showing the condition of the portrait in the early twentieth century; before- and after-treatment photographs; and numerous informative details.

Table of contents

Director's Foreword
Thomas P. Campbell, Director, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Introduction
Keith Christiansen, John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Restored Velázquez, A Velázquez Restored
Jonathan Brown, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

A Velázquez Unveiled
Michael Gallagher, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of Paintings Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

Attributional Time Line

About the authors

Keith Christiansen is John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jonathan Brown is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Michael Gallagher is Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of Paintings Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Jonathan Brown

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Related Content

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (3)

Essays (2)

Portraiture in Renaissance and Baroque Europe

Velázquez (1599–1660)

Timelines (1)

Iberian Peninsula, 1600–1800 A.D.

Exhibition

Velázquez Rediscovered

Velázquez Rediscovered features a newly identified painting by Velázquez, Portrait of a Man, formerly ascribed to the workshop of Velázquez, and recently reattributed to the master himself following its cleaning and restoration. It is shown alongside other works from the Museum's superior collection of works by the great Spanish painter.

In summer 2009 this arresting portrait was taken off the walls of the gallery where it had been shown for many years and brought to conservation for examination. The picture's fascinating history is notable for the changes in attribution and identification, providing a case study in the ways critical opinion can alter over time. What was not realized or sufficiently taken into account in the literature was the degree to which the appearance of the picture was compromised by thick, discolored layers of varnish and an old restoration that attempted make it look more finished than the artist intended. The cleaning of the picture literally revealed a new work of art: a portrait done from life, with parts left only summarily described, painted in a fashion typical of Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), to whom it now may confidently be reattributed.

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