“Portrait of Don Gaspard de Guzmán, Count-Duke de Olivares” (mainly referred to as “Portrait of Olivares” for short) is a painting by the Spanish artist Diego Velazquez from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum .
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| Diego Velazquez | ||
| Portrait of Don Gaspard de Guzmán, Count-Duke de Olivares . C. 1638 | ||
| Spanish El conde-duque de olivares | ||
| Oil on canvas . 67 × 54.5 cm | ||
| State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg | ||
| ( inv. GE-300 ) | ||
The painting is a chest portrait of the first Minister of Spain, Gaspard de Guzmán i Pimentel , Count Olivares and the Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor , known as the Count Duke de Olivares. He is depicted in a black camisole with the signs of the Order of Alcantara , to which he was ranked in 1623.
It is believed that the portrait was painted around 1638, and dates from 1635 to 1643 were called different researchers. However, most art historians are inclined precisely to 1638 or near it. This date is motivated by the fact that in 1638 in Madrid , the book of Juan Antonio de Tapia i Robles, Illustración del renombre de Grande, was published, in which there was an engraving executed by Herman Panels from this portrait and containing an inscription about its removal from the original Velazquez in the same 1638 [1] .
Despite the current contemporary portrait direct reference to the author, two researchers in 1888 and 1936 expressed doubts that the painting was painted by Velazquez [2] , but they were not supported by the scientific community.
The early history of the painting is not clarified, at the beginning of the XIX century it belonged to the English banker W. Kuzvelt , was in the Amsterdam part of his collection, which in 1814 was bought by the Emperor Alexander I for the Hermitage [3] . It is exhibited in the building of the New Hermitage in Hall 239 (Spanish Clearance) [4] .
The director of the Hermitage M. B. Piotrovsky wrote about this picture:
The portrait ... is striking, since a deeply truthful image was created within the framework of normative official painting. The complexity of nature of the omnipotent royal favorite hated by Spain emerges through the mask of cold impenetrability laid at the court, finds adequate expression in the composition and picturesque structure of the picture. Upon closer examination, in the restrained colorful palette, subtle hues are revealed, so that the image becomes vibrantly vibrant. According to the severity of perception of nature and the freedom of pictorial art, this portrait is one of the best works of Velazquez [5] .
In 1985, the USSR Ministry of Communications issued a postage stamp with a reproduction of this painting, the face value of the stamp is 50 kopecks (No. 5601 according to the CFA catalog ).
The collection of the Royal Palace in Madrid has a miniature on copper, made by Velazquez himself and repeating the Hermitage painting - this is the only surviving miniature in his work.
Postage stamp of the USSR No. 5601. 1985. Series “Masterpieces of the Hermitage. Spanish painting "
"Portrait of Olivares." Copper, oil. 8 × 6 cm. Royal Palace in Madrid
Notes
- ↑ Kagane L. L., Kostenevich A. G. The State Hermitage Museum. Spanish painting of the 15th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Collection catalog. - SPb. .: Publishing House of the State Hermitage Museum, 2008. - P. 74.
- ↑ Justi C. Diego Velazquez und sein Jahrhundert. - Bonn, 1888. - Bd. II. - S. 119; Mayer AL Velazquez. A Catalog Raisonné. - London, 1936 .-- P. 77. - No. 328.
- ↑ Levinson-Lessing V.F. History of the Hermitage Picture Gallery (1764-1917). - L .: Art, 1986. - S. 143.
- ↑ State Hermitage Museum. - Velazquez de Silva, Diego. "Portrait of Don Gaspard de Guzmán, Count-Duke de Olivares."
- ↑ Piotrovsky M. B. Hermitage. - M .: Slovo, 2003 .-- S. 203.