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Diego Velazquez (Spanish, 1599-1660)
Portrait of a Man, ca. 1651-1652
Oil on canvas, 25-1/4 x 17-1/2 inches
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Velázquez has long been celebrated as the presiding genius of Spain's 17th-century Golden Age of painting. In 1623 he was named official painter to King Philip IV and served the court for the rest of his life. And while the all-powerful Catholic Church encouraged his colleagues to devote themselves to religious images as dictated by the Counter Reformation, Velázquez's privileged position gave him access to a richer variety of pictorial themes, including portraiture.

The artist was called upon repeatedly to record the king's likeness and those of his courtiers. He did so with sober realism and rare sensitivity in portraits that range from the grandiose to small but powerful images like this one. The sitter here is not identified, yet his austere, aristocratic dress-the black doublet and flaring white linen collar-suggest that he was someone of high rank and possibly connected to the Madrid court.

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