''Don Juan Mateos'' is an oil on canvas painting widely attributed to

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

created circa 1632–3.

Background

This work is widely attributed to

and has been dated to 1632 or 1633. The portrait is referenced in 1685 among the assets of as "''ritratto di Monsu Velasco ..quale figura que ha le mani solo abbozzate''" or "portrait of Signor

Velasco Velasco (also Belasco or Belasko) is a Spanish family name. According to the academy of Basque language, it is derived from the Visigothic name 'Vela' (Vigila) and the Basque suffix ''–sco''.https://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/en/ (Onomastics, Belas ...

... hands but roughly sketched". Sold as the work of

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

in 1746 to

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...

, it passed from his collection into the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, where for some time it was considered the work of Titian. The portrait, cut below the waist, wears black with golden highlights and a white collar. The hands, only outlined, rest the right on the hilt of a pistol the left on the sword. The figure is cut out on a reddish-gray background, brighter in front of the figure. The head, intensely illuminated and slightly turned, looks at the viewer with a penetrating gaze. Signs of ageing include the wrinkles on his nose and his neck. The model is believed to be

Juan Mateos Juan Mateos (?–1594) was a wealthy inhabitant of Gibraltar during the Spanish period. He was remembered for being the founder of Gibraltar's first hospital, which subsequently became the old St Bernard's Hospital. Early life Juan Mateos was a ...

Philip IV Philip IV may refer to: * Philip IV of Macedon (died 297 BC) * Philip IV of France (1268–1314), Avignon Papacy * Philip IV of Burgundy or Philip I of Castile (1478–1506) * Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1542–1602) * Philip IV of Spain ...

's horseman and main crossbowman. Art historian Carl Justi compared the Velázquez portrait with the small portrait of the author and hunter engraved by Pedro Perete that appears on the front of his work, ''Origen y dignidad de la caza'' (Origin and Dignity of Hunting). Jonathan Brown suggests that the portrait could have been acquired on the death of Mateos by Ippolito Camillo Guidi, ambassador of the Duke of Modena in Madrid from 1641 to 1643, commissioned by the Duke, after a visit to the Madrid court, to purchase works of art to hedge against the constant devaluation of the billon currency used in his remuneration. The inventory of the goods left at his death by Mateos included, in fact, together with a small number of religious paintings, two portraits, one his and another of his wife, María Marquart, now deceased, but they were cited as full-length portraits and were jointly valued at just 100 reales, with no indication of the painter's name.Barrio Moya (1998)

Bibliography

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References

External links

*
Online Catalogue entry for ''Don Juan Mateos''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Don Juan Mateo Collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister 1631 paintings 17th-century portraits Portraits of men 1630s in Spain Portraits by Diego Velázquez