A Young Greco
This work, dated c. 1576–1577, is believed to date from El Greco’s early years in Spain, before he settled permanently in Toledo. It may correspond to a work from Louis-Philippe’s former Spanish Gallery.
Set against an almost uniform brown background, the man presumed to be Don Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas—the future Duke of Lerma—emerges from the darkness in a black suit, with only the wide white ruff catching the light. The translucent folds of this ruff contrast with the simplicity of the attire, while the face, turned slightly, immediately captures the viewer’s attention. The slightly parted lips and thin mustache lend the portrait an individuality far removed from that of an official portrait. The light, concentrated on the forehead, nose, and cheekbones, shapes the forms and creates the psychological intensity that would come to characterize the painter’s great portraits. According to the auction house, the painting is dated to c. 1576–1577, a time when the painter had just left Italy and had not yet settled permanently in Toledo. Although the work remains very restrained, it already foreshadows the great portraits that would establish the Cretan master’s reputation. The art historian August L. Mayer (1885–1944), who published a study of the painting in 1940 in *The Burlington Magazine*, saw it not only as a portrait of the future Duke of Lerma, but also an important step in the development of the famous *Gentleman with His Hand on His Chest*, now in the Prado Museum. He also highlighted its similarities to the Portrait of Vincenzo Anastagi in the Frick Collection in NewYork, as well as to the portrait held at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. Mayer also speculated that the portrait might have corresponded to a work from Louis-Philippe’s former Spanish Gallery, identified as number303 in the 1838 catalog. The painting resurfaced in London c. 1970 in the hands of British restorer John Brealey; it then passed through the Canesso Gallery in Paris before being acquired by its current owner in 2006.
