Portrait of a Man

Is this the work of famed Spanish artist Diego Velázquez? Scholars continue to debate the question. Most cite the portrait’s austere realism, its fluent brushwork, and the intensity of the subject in order to attribute the painting to the Spanish master, and some even claim the sitter is the artist’s colleague Juan Francisco Pimentel, the Count of Benavente. But others hedge their bets, awaiting further study. You might compare it with another Portrait of a Man recently confirmed as a work by the artist. What do you think?

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