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Head of a Man

Not on view

When purchased by the important collector Louisine Havemeyer (1855–1929), this portrait was praised by Edgar Degas (1834–1917) and Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) as a work by Diego Velázquez (1599–1660). Its broad, frank brushwork resonates with this artist’s early paintings. By the 1930s, however, this attribution was doubted and today the painting is generally thought to be by someone in Velázquez’s circle or the workshop of the battle painter José Leonardo (1601–1652). Regardless, at some point in its history it appears to have been cut from a larger canvas in order to try to create an independent portrait.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of a Man
  • Artist: Spanish (Castilian) Painter (mid-17th century or later)
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 14 x 10 3/4 in. (35.6 x 27.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.607
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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