Portrait of a Lady (Condesa de Monterrey?)

This is a typical example of a courtly portrait of a lady in 17th-century Spain. It shows a three-quarter view of a middle-aged woman; turned slightly to the left, her hand on a chair, she gazes toward the viewer.

Her face is modelled with loose, fluid brushstrokes.

The lady wears a diamond rose in her hair, pearl drop earrings, a string of pearls at her throat, and several costly rings.

Her right hand rests on the back of the chair ...

... while her left holds a closed, barely visible fan.

Her lavish dress is made of black patterned velvet. Golden stars glimmer on the blue-black, gold-weave brocade of the bodice and sleeves.

At her waist lies a heavy, long gold chain of rosettes set with jet stones.

Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), court painter to Philip IV in Madrid and the most brilliant artist of Spain’s Golden Age of painting, completed this portrait in the mid-1630s.

Although the sitter’s identity has not been clearly established, she is most likely Doña Leonora de Guzmán, Condesa de Monterrey, sister of Conde Duque de Olivares and wife of the Conde de Monterrey, who served as ambassador to Rome from 1628 to 1631 (during Velázquez’s first stay in the city) and later as viceroy of Naples.

Velázquez had a special personal relationship with the Conde and Condesa de Monterrey: They were his patrons in Rome and had him nursed back to good health during an illness.