DIA Director Identifies Long-Lost Velázquez Portrait in Private Collection
In 2025, a long-lost portrait from 1626, depicting Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, was rediscovered by Salvador Salort-Pons, the director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. This artwork, known as The Count-Duke of Olivares in Armour, was located in a restoration studio in Madrid. Originally commissioned for Cardinal Francesco Barberini, it disappeared after being listed in Barberini's Roman inventory. Its whereabouts became known again in 1970 through diary excerpts. A technical examination has verified its authenticity, uncovering changes in composition. The painting will be showcased at the DIA's exhibition Velázquez and Olivares: Early Years at Court in January 2027. Salort-Pons is also arranging a loan of the Prado's Philip IV portrait for the exhibition.
Key facts
- Salvador Salort-Pons identified a lost 1626 Velázquez portrait of Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares.
- The painting was discovered in a Madrid restoration studio in 2025.
- Technical analysis confirmed authenticity via X-rays, ultraviolet imaging, and infrared analysis.
- Canvas thread count matched three other Velázquez works, including Philip IV (1626–28).
- X-rays revealed Velázquez changed Olivares's outfit from black fur to armor.
- The portrait was originally a gift from Olivares to Cardinal Francesco Barberini.
- The work will be exhibited at the DIA in January 2027 in 'Velázquez and Olivares: Early Years at Court'.
- The exhibition will also include works from the Hispanic Society, São Paulo Museum of Art, and a print by Paulus Pontius.
Entities
Artists
- Diego Velázquez
- Salvador Salort-Pons
- Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares
- Philip IV of Spain
- Cardinal Francesco Barberini
- Pope Urban VIII
- Paulus Pontius
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Giles Knox
- Cassiano dal Pozzo
- Gaspar de Guzmán
- Van der Hamen
- Rubens
- Benito Navarrete
- Philip IV
- Francisco Pacheco
- Juan van der Hamen
- Enriqueta Harris
Institutions
- Detroit Institute of Arts
- Museo del Prado
- ARS Magazine
- Hispanic Society of New York
- São Paulo Museum of Art
- Indiana University Bloomington
- The Art Newspaper
- Ars Magazine
- masdearte
- Museu de Arte de São Paulo
- Hispanic Society of America
- École des Beaux-Arts de Paris
- Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique
- Museo Prado
- Varez Fisa Collection
Locations
- Detroit
- Madrid
- Spain
- New York City
- Brazil
- Rome
- Italy
- United States
- Turin
- France
- Valtellina
- Brussels
- Paris
- São Paulo
- Belgium
- Palazzo della Cancelleria
- Seville
- New York