Velazquez portrait wiederhergestellte, literally and figuratively

In 1973, reasons still not clear, the Metropolitan Museum of art me undertook a comprehensive reassessment the many its investments what the demotion of 300 old master paintings from attribution, the master mapping to "Workshop", "Circle" or "followers the", remove the Canon these masters works significantly to reduce of the value of the Museum.

Some of those pieces have again been reviewed both due to the ongoing scholarship and as a result of subsequent cleaning and restoration. Last year met cleaned and restored Velázquezs ' Portrait of a man, and in the process not his original attribution - originating from the master hand child. This was particularly important because the painting has a self portrait (see my post, Velázquez (even?)) Rediscovered portrait).

This process has a painting, it was been repeated once and again, one of the most important paintings of the Museum by the Spanish master which is sometimes labeled all painters of the largest.

In portrait of Philip IV is charged after he was court painter to one of the three court Velázquez. The coating suffered the painting over the years by numerous applications and definite assignment misguided painting was difficult and in a State.

The New York Times has a nice set of interactive to move a slider above the images compare the above their function, the recovery of a Velazquez, and restored state painting (click between the "Restore" tabs and "Two paintings compared" at the top of the feature).

I don't know how long the NYT feature will be available before it registration disappears behind a wall. Painting the listing on the met's website has both a larger version of a zoomable feature, and is still "This information can as a result of ongoing research." change "-tag."

We can expect (or hope) that indulged in Velazquez topic not be flattering here yet. The young Philip, pale, droopy eyes and Red lippy looks more like the dweeb you in addition to sitting in chemistry as a ruler of one of the great empires of the world. But its appearance is consistent throughout the paintings of Velázquez and others, and the master's hand, reveals the distance years accumulated abuse, keeps a steady mirror nature.

(Picture pictures of interactive from NYT on the links, images from the met on the right above)

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