Portrait of Cardinal Gaspar de Borja

Gaspar de Borja y Velasco, the head of the Catholic Church in Spain, sat for the court painter Diego Velázquez sometime between 1643 and 1645. Velázquez sketched him in a black chalk drawing currently in the collection of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. Three portraits have been closely connected with this drawing, including this work. Previously attributed to Velázquez, recent scholars have determined the Ponce painting was done by a member of the artist's workshop.