Portrait of a Man

The Painting and its History: The greatest portraitist of noblemen at the court of Philip IV in Spain, Velázquez was also a master of making vibrant likenesses, often bust-length, of less high-standing sitters. In the nineteenth century, this portrait of a man, looking circumspectly at the viewer, was admired as a self-portrait and was understood as such when it entered The Met in 1889.

No certain reference to the painting exists before it appeared on the Spanish art market in 1813. It was sold to the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne the following year, and is recorded (by Waagen 1838) as hanging in Lansdowne’s grand house on London’s Berkeley Square, where it remained until passing to Marquand and becoming one of the first paintings attributed to Velázquez to enter the collection of an American museum.

The Attribution and Identity of the Sitter: The identification of both the sitter and the artist have been debated. In the first full study of Velázquez in English, Curtis (1883) cautiously stated that the sitter resembled the artist but that the painting was “different from any other.” Justi (1889) made the opposite assessment, seeing the artist’s hand at work, but not his features in the likeness. In his 1914 catalogue of The Met’s paintings, Bryson Burroughs thought it impossible to identify either sitter or artist and assigned the painting to the school of Velázquez. By the mid-1930s, it was dismissed in Mayer’s foundational catalogue raisonné of the artist as a studio copy of a lost work, and López-Rey (1963) concluded that the “extremely fine” work was by a student or follower of the artist whose “sense of colouring," particularly in the flesh tones, “differs vividly from the master’s.”

Interest in Portrait of a Man took a new turn in 1991 when Nina Ayala Mallory attributed the picture to Velázquez’s son-in-in law and longtime assistant, Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo. Mallory concluded that this was a self-portrait, done around 1650, and understood the bold brushwork and densely applied paint as Mazo’s emulation of his master’s mark. Bolstering her argument, Carlos Solano Oropesa and Juan Carlos Solano Herranz (2004) connected the painting with a testamentary inventory of Charles III (died 1788): "n.227: Oltro igual representan el retrato de un Pintor. De Juan Bautista del Mazo tasada en 400" (Yet another [canvas] representing the portrait of a painter. By Juan Bautista del Mazo assessed at 400). The Mazo attribution has held most traction since Mallory first proposed it, even if her identification of the sitter has seemed less convincing. Portrait of a Man was last exhibited as by Mazo (ca. 1650) in 2015, in the Velázquez exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris, although it should be noted that—perhaps recognizing the portrait’s considerable artistic qualities—the authors of that catalogue examined it in the context of the great painter’s workshop and not in that of Mazo’s oeuvre.

A Reconsideration Following Technical Examination: In 2014, the first analysis of the painting supported by technical study was made by Javier Portús, Head of the Department of Spanish Paintings at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, in collaboration with Dorothy Mahon, Conservator at The Met (see Technical Notes). The project was part of a broader survey of The Met’s paintings by Velázquez, and provided the opportunity to examine this portrait with the artist’s Juan de Pareja (1971.86), a masterpiece made during the artist’s second visit to Rome, in 1650. Technical analysis of the two portraits reveals that both are painted on canvases coarser than those Velázquez used in Madrid, but common to his Italian pictures. The preparatory ground of Juan de Pareja was made of calcium carbonate derived from wood ash which, although typically found in Spanish painting, differs from the gesso sizing more commonly used in Italy (Caró, Centeno, and Mahon 2018). Portrait of a Man was painted on a similar calcium carbonate ground. X-rays and infrared images of the Portrait of a Man reveal a preparatory process and changes in its execution that are also consistent with those found in Juan de Pareja and other portraits securely dating to Velázquez’s second visit to Italy.

If one accepts that the technical aspects revealed by Portús and Mahon point to Rome, the attribution of the painting to Mazo is eliminated. He remained in Madrid when his father-in-law was sent by Philip IV to Italy. The distinct aspects of the preparatory process along with the high quality of its execution prompted Portús to propose a reattribution of Portrait of a Man to Velázquez himself.

Velázquez is said to have painted more than ten portraits during his second visit to Italy, from 1649–51. Many of these reveal the artist’s attraction to the immediacy of contemporary Italian portraiture as well as his adoption of the off-center placement of the subject within the picture field, which gives the sitter a more dynamic and lively presence. Some of Velázquez’s Roman portraits have readily identifiable sitters; others, such as the Portrait of a Man acquired by the Prado in 2003, are more difficult to name. Before being accepted as a likeness of the Portuguese banker Ferdinando Brandini, the Prado portrait was thought to represent Juan de Córdoba, the Spanish agent who looked after Velázquez in Rome and helped him in his collecting efforts for the king. Velázquez remained in contact with Juan de Córdoba after he returned to Spain, and their close association has led scholars to identify other portraits associated with Velázquez, such as the problematic portrait of a man in the Capitoline Museum, Rome, as likenesses of Juan de Córdoba. His identity as the sitter in The Met’s painting has recently been proposed by Portús in Ars Magazine (Portús 2019).

Stephan Wolohojian 2019

An Investigation of Paintings By and Attributed to Velázquez: Javier Portús, Head of the Department of Spanish Paintings at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, was invited in June 2014 to study The Met’s paintings by Velázquez and his circle. In collaboration with Dorothy Mahon, Conservator, Department of Paintings Conservation, paintings were brought to the conservation studio for close comparative examination (see fig. 5 above). The study included all of the paintings in The Met by or attributed to Velázquez, but for stylistic and technical reasons eventually focused on the well-documented portrait of Juan de Pareja (The Met, 1971.86). The Portrait of a Man entered the collection as gift of Henry Marquand in 1889 as a self-portrait by Velázquez. Since 1914, however, both the identification of the sitter and the attribution have been questioned, with most scholars regarding it as by someone closely associated with the artist. The possibility to closely compare this portrait in optimal circumstances with securely ascribed paintings, as well as the opportunity to gather new technical information, has resulted in a more subtle consideration of its attribution. The investigation included updated technical imaging using infrared reflectography and x-radiography. The surfaces of the paintings were examined using a high magnification stereomicroscope, and paint samples mounted in cross section were examined with polarizing light microscopy (PLM), Raman microscopy, as well as scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Dorothy Mahon selected the paint samples, made the x-radiographs, and worked closely with Javier Portús to put the technical data into context. Silvia Centeno and Federico Caró, Research Scientists, Department of Scientific Research, carried out the analysis of the paint samples. Evan Read, Manager for Technical Documentation, assembled the infrared reflectography captures. Juan Trujillo, Imaging, took all photographs mentioned below unless otherwise indicated.

Technical Evidence Considered in Support of Reattribution: Technical analysis and technical imaging supporting consideration of a reattribution of this painting is presented along with comparative details of other portraits, highlighting similarities in artist technique. In addition to Juan de Pareja, the comparative paintings illustrated include Velázquez’s Portrait of a Man from the Jules Bache collection (The Met, 49.7.42; fig. 16) and Ferdinando Brandani (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid; P7858; fig. 12). As detailed below, the microscopic similarities of the ground preparations and paint layers of the Marquand Portrait of a Man to those of Juan de Pareja suggest that the former was also painted in Rome (fig. 6), dramatically shifting any discussion of attribution.

The Canvas Support: The supports of Juan de Pareja and the Portrait of a Man are characteristic of the coarse canvas available during this period in Italy, and differ from the finer weave used by the artist in Madrid (fig. 7). The canvas support of Juan de Pareja consists of 9.7 vertical threads and 10.1 horizontal threads per square centimeter. The canvas support of Portrait of a Man consists of 6.6 vertical threads and 10 horizontal threads per square centimeter.

Technical Analysis of Ground and Paint Layers: The particle size and pigment mixtures in the paint layers and ground structures of Juan de Pareja and Portrait of a Man are similar (fig. 8). Both canvases were prepared with a first sizing layer (aparejo) consisting of calcium carbonate obtained from washed wood ash bound in glue. Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis (SEM) of calcium carbonate (calcite) in both sizing layers reveals the particles have a similar composition and morphology, which is characteristic of calcite obtained from washed wood ash. The priming layer (imprimación) in both paintings is a medium warm reddish-brown color consisting of a mixture of white, red, and black pigments. For the Portrait of a Man, the artist applied an additional layer of red iron earth. The red earth layer does not contain lead white, which is typically found in Madrid red earth grounds (tierra de esquivias). Velázquez used both double grounds and varied the color of his ground throughout his career.

What is Washed Wood Ash and Why is the Detection of This Material Important?: The source of the calcium carbonate detected in the ground layers of Juan de Pareja and Portrait of a Man was obtained from washed wood ash. This calcium carbonate is obtained as a byproduct of the extraction of lye (potassium hydroxide)—which for centuries was the essential and readily available material used for washing clothes and making soap—from wood ash. The sludge that remains after ashes are rinsed with water during lye extraction contains a high percentage of calcium carbonate (calcite). The process of burning wood and subsequent rinsing of wood ash with water results in a material that contains uniquely formed calcium carbonate particles.[1] It is this calcium carbonate-rich byproduct that provides a useful artist material. Although the use of washed wood ash in the ground preparations of paintings is described in two artist treatises—by Francisco Pacheco (1564–1644), published in 1649,[2] and Antonio Palomino (1655–1726), published in 1715–25)[3]—the analytical detection and proof of the actual use of this material in seventeenth-century Spanish paintings is recent.[4] The distinction of calcium carbonate obtained from washed wood ash in the ground preparations is important because, since ancient times, artists have most commonly used other geologically available materials, such as chalk (calcium carbonate) and gypsum (calcium sulphate), for their ground preparations. In Italy and Spain, the most common material used in ground preparations is gypsum because it is an abundantly available geological material. In the northern parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, France, Germany, and England, chalk is the most commonly used abundantly available geological material. Until the recent detection of washed wood ash in the ground preparation of Juan de Pareja, all reported examples are confined to paintings produced in seventeenth-century Madrid.[5] Therefore, the detection of washed wood ash in both Juan de Pareja and Portrait of a Man supports the assumption that the latter could also have been produced in Rome. To date, calcium carbonate obtained from washed wood ash has not been detected in a painting produced in Italy by an Italian artist. This is why the detection of washed wood ash in the ground of paintings made by a Spanish artist working in Italy is of interest, and suggests that Velázquez may have brought some painting materials with him to Rome. Because ashes are available everywhere, it cannot be ruled out entirely that Velázquez may have obtained calcium carbonate from washed wood ash in Italy. However, the quality of the washed wood ash detected suggests that this product may have been collected, refined, and resold as a commercial byproduct of the extraction of lye from wood ashes in Spain, where its pervasive use in the seventeenth-century in Madrid has been documented.[6] The eventual identification of this material in many more works of art in Spain, and possibly other locations, will lead to a greater understanding of this recycled material, as well as help us understand how widespread its use was throughout the world and over time.

Characteristics of Velázquez’s Technique: Characteristic artist changes to the collar and adjustments to the contours of the figure in Portrait of a Man are visible in normal light as well as in the x-radiograph (fig. 9).

A comparison of details of Portrait of a Man with Juan de Pareja highlights areas on both portraits where Velázquez customarily uses a final, precise dab of light gray paint to distinguish between the lower edge of the hair and the upper part of the collar. Also visible are characteristic changes to the contours of the collar (fig. 10).

In Portrait of a Man, a preliminary sketch in black paint is visible in both normal light and infrared imaging (fig. 11). A preliminary black sketch and adjustments to the collar are also present in Velázquez’s Ferdinando Brandani (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid; P7858; figs. 12, 13).

In Ferdinando Brandani and Portrait of a Man, the passages where the hair meets the forehead is accomplished by a gray zone that facilitates the transition between the dark tones of the hair and the pinks of the flesh (fig. 14).

In the infrared reflectogram of Portrait of a Man, the dark lines in the underlayer converging toward the chin and back of the collar are characteristic of the preliminary drawing Velázquez uses to position a head (fig. 15).

A comparison of the eyes in this painting with those in the Portrait of a Man from the Jules Bache collection (The Met, 49.7.42), in both normal and infrared light, reveals a dark spot in the underpainting between the eyebrow and the upper eyelid that served to establish the coordinates for the position of the head, a working feature characteristic of Velázquez (fig. 17).

The eyes of both portraits are painted in a similar manner, with lightly traced eyebrows and a definitive gradation of color and light from the darker and denser area near the bridge of the nose to a lighter and thinner application near the temple (fig. 18).

Details of the mouths of this portrait and Juan de Pareja, taken in the natural lighting of the conservation studio, reveal the great similarity of color and paint application (fig. 19).

Characteristic of Velázquez are the traces of paint in the background—present in the Portrait of a Man and many of his other paintings—where the artist wiped his brush (fig. 20).

Dorothy Mahon, Conservator, Department of Paintings Conservation
February 20, 2019

[1] Federico Caró, Silvia A. Centeno, and Dorothy Mahon, “Painting with Recycled Materials: On the Morphology of Calcite Pseudomorphs as Evidence of the Use of Wood Ash Residues in Baroque Paintings,” Heritage Science 6, no. 3 (2018).
[2] Francisco Pacheco, El Arte de la Pintura, su Antiquedad y Grandeza, 1649, Book 3, p. 384.
[3] Antonio Palomino y Velazco, El Museo Pictórico y Escala Óatica, 1715, Book 5, p. 51.
[4] Maite Jover de Celis and María Dolores Gayo, “This They Use in Madrid: The Ground Layer in Painting on Canvas in 17th-Century Mardrid,” Making and Transforming Art, Technology and Interpretation, London, 2014, pp. 40–46.
[5] In 2016, subsequent to this study, washed wood ash was detected in a painting by the seventeenth-century Mexican artist Cristóbal Villalpando. Technical study of more paintings from this region is necessary in order to understand the extent to which this material was also used in New Spain. See Dorothy Mahon, Silvia A. Centeno, and Louisa Smieska, “Cristóal Villalpando’s Adoration of the Magi: a Discussion of Artist Technique,” LALVC 1, no. 2, forthcoming April 2019.
[6] See Jover de Celis and Gayo 2014.

Manuel de Godoy, Prince of the Peace, Madrid (by 1808–13; bought with a portrait of the Count Duke of Olivares, for 600 gns., by G. A. Wallis for Buchanan); [William Buchanan, London, 1813–14; sold to Lansdowne]; Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Lansdowne House, London (1814–d. 1863); by descent to Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, Lansdowne House (1866–88; probably sold to Agnew); [Agnew, London, 1888–89; sold to Marquand]; Henry G. Marquand, New York (1889)

London. British Institution. 1867, no. 55 (as a self-portrait by Velázquez, lent by the Marquess of Lansdowne).

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," 1877, no. 101 (as a self-portrait by Velázquez, lent by the Marquis of Lansdowne).

Palm Beach. Society of the Four Arts. "Spanish Painting, XVII–XX Centuries," January 4–27, 1963, no catalogue?

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Velázquez Rediscovered," November 17, 2009–February 7, 2010, no catalogue.

Paris. Grand Palais, Galeries nationales. "Velázquez," March 25–July 13, 2015, no. 95 (as by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo?).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Velázquez Portraits: Truth in Painting," November 4, 2016–March 14, 2017, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter," March 27–July 16, 2023, no cat. number (ill. p. 101 [color]).

W[illiam]. Buchanan. Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England since the French Revolution. London, 1824, vol. 2, p. 244, no. 8, calls it a self-portrait by Velázquez, companion to a portrait of the Count Duke of Olivares, and lists it among pictures purchased by George Augustus Wallis in Spain in 1813, from the collection of the Prince of Peace.

G[ustav]. F[riedrich]. Waagen. Works of Art and Artists in England. London, 1838, vol. 2, p. 265, describes it as a self-portrait by Velázquez at Lansdowne House, London.

G[ustav]. F[riedrich]. Waagen. Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris. Vol. 2, Kunstwerke und Künstler in England. Berlin, 1838, p. 77.

Mrs. Jameson. Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London. London, 1844, pp. 290, 312, no. 56, refers to it as a self-portrait by Velázquez at Lansdowne House.

J. J. A. Bristead. Manuscript catalogue of Spanish paintings. 1870–75, p. 31, attributes it to Velázquez.

Charles B. Curtis. Velazquez and Murillo. London, 1883, pp. 82–83, no. 201, attributes it to Velázquez and states that "this picture is different from any other known to the writer. The features, however, seem to resemble those of Velazquez.".

Paul Lefort. Velazquez. Paris, 1888, p. 148, calls it a self-portrait by Velázquez.

Carl Justi. Diego Velázquez and His Times. London, 1889, pp. 426–27, discusses it as a fine portrait of an unknown Spanish cavalier, previously thought to be a self-portrait painted by Velázquez; remarks that it is "executed in his second manner" and exhibits some resemblance to the artist, though more in the glance than in the features.

Catalogue of the Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1905, p. 176, no. 270, lists it as a self-portrait by Velázquez.

R. A. M. Stevenson. Velasquez. London, 1906, p. 138, considers it a self-portrait by Velázquez.

Bryson Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings. 1st ed. New York, 1914, p. 270, calls it a portrait of Velázquez from his school.

August L. Mayer. Velazquez: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Pictures and Drawings. London, 1936, p. 90, no. 386, pl. 121, refers to it as a studio copy of a lost original (no. 385, "Portrait of a Young Man", dated around 1632–36) for which he gives no provenance; mentions having seen another version in 1935 in the possession of D. Apolinar Sánchez, Madrid.

Harry B. Wehle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings. New York, 1940, pp. 239–40, ill., calls it "Portrait of Velázquez (?)" from his workshop; believes it shows the same subject as the portrait of a man in the Museo Capitolino, Rome, which he suggests may also be a self-portrait, perhaps the one in Pacheco's collection [see Ref. López-Rey 1963, no. 484].

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 98.

Bernardino de Pantorba. La vida y la obra de Velázquez: Estudio biográfico y crítico. Madrid, 1955, p. 252, no. 386, calls it "Portrait of a Young Man. Portrait of Velázquez?"; regards this picture as a self-portrait by Velázquez based upon its resemblance to the portrait of a man at the Museo Capitolino, which he considers a self-portrait.

Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño. La pintura española fuera de España. Madrid, 1958, p. 329, no. 2900, attributes it to Velázquez's workshop; doubts the sitter is Velázquez.

José López-Rey. Velázquez: A Catalogue Raisonné of His Oeuvre. London, 1963, p. 317, no. 570, pl. 291, calls it "Portrait of a Young Man" and views it as an "extraordinarily fine" work by a student or close follower of Velázquez whose "sense of colouring... differs vividly from the Master's, particularly in the flesh tones".

José Camón Aznar. Velázquez. Madrid, 1964, vol. 2, pp. 681, 687, ill., repeats Mayer's [Ref. 1936] opinion that it is a copy of a lost original by Velázquez; describes it as a forceful portrait of a noble gentleman.

P.M. Bardi. L'opera completa di Velázquez. Milan, 1969, p. 111, no. 144, ill., lists it with "Altre opere attribuite a Velàzquez" and observes that the coloring differs from Velázquez.

Marcus B. Burke. Memo to files. 1976, notes that an "attribution of this painting to Mazo would not be without foundation".

María Angeles Mazón de la Torre. Jusepe Leonardo y su tiempo. Saragossa, 1977, p. 195 n. 524, compares it compositionally to the "Head of a Man" (MMA 29.100.607) which she attributes to Jusepe Leonardo.

Nina Ayala Mallory. "Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo: Retratos y paisajes." Goya (March–April 1991), pp. 266–67, fig. 4, regards it as a possible self-portrait by Mazo dating from around 1650 and sees it as painted in clear emulation of Velázquez, particularly in the dense passages of brushwork that define the face with vivid expression and the illusion of reality.

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 160, ill., as "Portrait of a Man".

Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez. Letter to Dulce Roman. April 27, 1997, believes that an attribution to Mazo is possible, and notes that Mazo's technique is similar to that of Velázquez, although less finished ("deshecha").

Carlos Solano Oropesa and Juan Carlos Solano Herranz. Juan Bauptta Martínez del Maço: Pintor de cámara de Felipe IV, yerno de Velázquez y conquense. Cuenca, Ecuador, 2004, pp. 100–101, ill. frontispiece and fig. 08, attribute it to Mazo, date it about 1650, and call it a possible self-portrait.

Guillaume Kientz in Velázquez: l'Expo. Exh. cat., Grand Palais, Galeries nationales. Paris, 2015, pp. 226–27, no. 95, ill. (color), as by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo(?).

Jason Farago. "An Infinite World Captured In a Handful of Portraits." New York Times (January 13, 2017), p. C25.

Jonathan Brown. "A Proposal on Attribution: Jonathan Brown on Velázquez Portraits at the Metropolitan." Art Newspaper. February 24, 2017, ill. (color) [http://theartnewspaper.com/comment/reviews/exhibitions/a-proposal-on-attribution-jonathan-brown-on-vel-zquez-portraits-at-the-metropolitan], suggests that this work and the "Peasant Girl" (private collection), also exhibited in this show, are by Juan de Pareja.

Esmée Quodbach. "Collecting Old Masters for New York: Henry Gurdon Marquand and The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 9 (Winter 2017) [DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2017.9.1.2].

Federico Carò, Silvia A. Centeno, and Dorothy Mahon. "Painting with Recycled Materials: On the Morphology of Calcite Pseudomorphs as Evidence of the Use of Wood Ash Residues in Baroque Paintings." Heritage Science 6 (January 25, 2018), figs. 5a (paint cross-sections), 6a–c (BSE images) [https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0166-5].

Fernando Marías. "'Republicans of Letters and Sciences': Some Velázquez's [sic] Portraits." Velázquez: Anregungen, Vorschläge, Lösungen / Suggestions, Proposals, Solutions. Ed. Sylvia Ferino-Pagden. [Turnhout, Belgium], 2018, pp. 42–43, 50 n. 38, fig. 7 (color), tentatively identifies the sitter as José Pellicer y Tovar, citing the similarity of the hairstyle, beard, and facial features with those in an engraved portrait by Juan de Courbes in Pellicer's "Lecciones solemnes a las obras de Don Luis de Góngora y Argote" (Madrid, 1630).

Javier Portús. "El mejor Velázquez / The Best Velázquez." Ars Magazine 12 (April–June 2019), pp. 58, 61, 66, 68–69, 151–54, ill. pp. 59, 64–65, 68–69 (color, overall and details, paint sample, and infrared reflectogram detail), attributes it to Velázquez and suggests that the sitter is Juan de Córdoba.

David Pullins in Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter in the Age of Velázquez. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, p. 100, ill. p. 101 (color).

The frame is from Northern Spain and dates to about 1640 (see figs. 1–4 above). This provincial painted and giltwood cassetta frame is made of pine and secured with miter faced mortise and tenon joints. The lotus leaf carved sight edge lies within a cavetto transitioning to the black frieze. The back edge is carved in acanthus leaf ornament. Retaining its original water gilding and paint this frame was skillfully reduced for this painting in 2013.

Timothy Newbery with Cynthia Moyer 2016; further information on this frame can be found in the Department of European Paintings files