Pope Innocent X, c. 1650

Provenance

Sir Robert Walpole, 1st earl of Orford [1676-1745], Houghton Hall, Norfolk; by inheritance to his son, Robert Walpole, 2nd earl of Orford [1700-1751], Houghton Hall; by inheritance to his son, George Walpole, 3rd earl of Orford [1730-1791], Houghton Hall; sold 1779, through Count Aleksei Semonovich Musin-Pushkin, Russian ambassador to England, to Catherine II, empress of Russia [1729-1796], Saint Petersburg; Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg, inv. no. 418; sold July 1930, as a painting by Velázquez, through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 30 March 1932 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1941

Spanish Painting, The Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, 1941, no. 66.

1996

Houghton Hall: The Prime Minister, The Empress and The Heritage, Castle Museum Norwich; Kenwood House, London, 1996-1997, no. 52, repro., as Ascribed to Diego Velázquez.

2013

Houghton Revisited: The Walpole Masterpieces from Catherine the Great's Hermitage, Houghton Hall, King's Lynn, 2013, no. 14, repro.

2014

Houghton Hall: Portrait of an English Country House, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 2014-2015, not in catalogue. (shown only in Houston and San Francisco).

2014

Velázquez, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 2014-2015, no. 72, repro. (shown only in Paris).

Technical Summary

The picture is on loosely woven plain-weave fabric which has had all tacking edges removed and is attached to a plain-weave lining fabric. The paint is of rather freely and broadly applied oils, ranging in consistency from rich pastes to heavy glazes of red. Under the visible image is an earlier composition of a man dressed in a fur-trimmed mozzetta, wearing a close fitting, fur-trimmed cap. His features are slightly lower than those of the man in the visible image. The eyes of the underlying portrait are blue, rather than black/brown as in the finished portrait. The paint used for the visible image is not noticeably more recent than the paint utilized for the underlying portrait. The paint and ground present an overall branched crackle pattern, which is shared by the upper and lower layers. There are scattered flake losses in the upper paint layer which extend only as far as the lower layer. Deeper, larger losses, which have fill or inpaint applied, are in the upper and lower left corners. It is unlikely that the portrait would present so uniform an appearance if the upper layer were added at a date much later than the original portrait. The varnish has an independent crackle pattern and is slightly opaque.

Bibliography

1752

Walpole, Horace. Aedes Walpolianae: or a Description of the collection of pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the seat of Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford. London, 1752: 67 (also 1767 ed.: 67).

1855

Stirling-Maxwell, William. Velázquez and His Works. London, 1855: 248 (also French ed. 1865: 286, no. 194).

1883

Curtis, Charles B. Velázques and Murillo, a Descriptive and Historical Catalogue .... London and New York, 1883: 77, no. 186.

1888

Justi, Carl. Diego Velázquez und sein Jahrhundert. Bonn, 1888: 2:191 (rev. ed. 1903; 3d ed. 1933: 580; also English rev. ed. 1889: 580.

1888

Lefort, Paul. Velázquez. Paris, 1888: 86.

1891

Bruiningk, E. and Andrei Somoff. Ermitage Impérial: catalogue de la galérie des tableaux, I; les écoles d'Italie et d'Espagne. Saint Petersburg, 1891: 225-226, no. 418.

1891

Stirling-Maxwell, William. Annals of the Artists of Spain. 3 (1848): 1402 (also 1891 ed., 4: 1586).

1898

Beruete y Moret, Aureliano de. Velázquez. Paris, 120-121, 207 (also English ed. 1906: 86, 88, 159, pl. 60).

1899

Somoff, Andrei Ivanovich. Ermitage Impérial: catalogue de la galérie des tableaux, I; les écoles d'Italie et d'Espagne. Saint Petersburg, 1899: 189, no. 418 (also 1909 ed.: 189-190, no. 418).

1905

Gensel, Walther. Velázquez: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1905: repro. 74.

1906

Stevenson, R.A.M. Velázquez. London, 1906: 148.

1908

Calvert, Albert F., and C. Gasquoine Hartley. Velázquez: An Account of His Life and Works. London, 1908: 114-115, 218.

1909

Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l'Hermitage Impérial à St-Pétersbourg. London, 1909: x, xxxi, fig. 45.

1913

Mayer, August L. Geschichte der spanischen Malerei. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1913: 2:173 (also 1922 ed.: 414).

1914

Gensel, Walter, and Valerian von Loga. Velázquez, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1914: 264, n. 168, repro. 168.

1924

Mayer, August L. Diego Velázquez. Berlin, 1924: 141-144, fig. 80.

1925

Gensel, Walter, and Juan Allende-Salazar. Velázquez: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst. Berlin and Leipzig, 1925: 130, 282.

1926

Kehrer, Hugo. Spanische Kunst von Greco bis Goya. Munich, 1926: 132-133.

1930

Kehrer, Hugo. "Koepfe des Velázquez." Estudios eruditos in memoriam de Adolfo Borilla y San Martín. Madrid, 1930: 2:373.

1930

Lunacharsky, A. V. Selected Works of Art from the Fine Art Museums of the U.S.S.R: Pictures by European Masters and Russian Painters of the XVII and XIX Centuries. Moscow, 1930: unpaginated, color repro.

1936

Mayer, August L. Velázquez: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Pictures and Drawings. London, 1936: 96, no. 411, pl. 138.

1937

Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 9, 41-42, repro. facing 42, as by Velazquez.

1937

Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 82.

1940

Mayer, August L. Velázquez. Paris, 1940: 20.

1941

Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 207, no. 80, as by Diego Velázquez de Silva.

1942

Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 216, as by Diego de Silva y Velázquez.

1942

Sánchez Cantón, Francisco J. "Como vivía Velázquez: inventario descubierto por D.F. Rodríguez Marín." Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueologia 15 (1942): 75, 81.

1943

Lafuente Ferrari, Enrique. Paintings and Drawings of Velázquez: Complete Edition. London and New York, 1943: 27, no. 97, pl. 122.

1944

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 78, color repro., as by Velazquez.

1945

Cook 1945, 76-78, fig. 7.

1945

Soria, Martin S. Review of The Paintings and Drawings of Velázquez by Enrique Lafuente Ferrari. In The Art Bulletin 27 (September, 1945): 214.

1948

López-Rey, José. Review of Archivo Español de Arte (1940-1946). In Gazette des Beaux-Arts 33 (January-June 1948): 60.

1949

Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 44, repro.

1955

Pantorba, Bernardino de [José López Jiménez]. La vida y la obra de Velázquez: estudio biográfico crítico. Madrid, 1955: 178-180, no. 99, fig. 99.

1956

Kapterewa, Tatjana. Velázquez und die spanische Porträtmalerie. Leipzig, 1956: 93, fig. 98.

1957

Gerstenberg, Kurt. Diego Velázquez. Würzburg, 1957: 155-156, repro. 153, no. 138.

1958

Gaya Nuño, Juan Anotonio. La pintura española fuera de España; historia y catàlogo. Madrid, 1958: 324-325, no. 2861.

1958

Harris, Enriqueta. "Velázquez en Roma." Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueologia 31 (1958): 187.

1960

Evans, Grose. Spanish Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1960 (Booklet Number Ten in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 28, color repro., as by Diego Velazquez de Silva.

1960

The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 26, repro., as by Velazquez.

1960

Walker, John. "Velázquez and Visualistic Painting." In Varia Velázqueña. Madrid, 1960: 174.

1963

López-Rey, José. Velázquez: A Catalogue Raisonné of His Oeuvre. London, 1963: 274-275, no. 448, pl. 360.

1963

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 166, repro.

1964

Camón Aznar, José. Velázquez. 2 vols. Madrid, 1964: 2:730, 940, 1005, repro. 730.

1965

Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 134.

1966

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:206, color repro., as by Velázquez.

1968

Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 13-14, 121-122, color repro.

1968

López-Rey, José. Velázquez' Work and World. London, 1958: 126.

1968

National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 121, repro.

1969

Asturias, M.A., and P.M. Bardi. L'opera completa di Velázquez. Milan, 1969: 107a, repro.

1973

Crombie, Theodore. "The Legacy of Victoria: Spanish Paintings at Apsley House." Apollo 98 (September, 1973): 213.

1973

Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 23, 27 repro.

1974

Gudiol y Ricart, José. Velázquez: 1559-1660. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. New York, 1974: 267, 281, 337, no. 137, fig. 207.

1974

Hendy, Philip. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Boston, 1974: 272-273.

1975

European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 360, repro.

1979

López-Rey, José. Velázquez; the Artist as Maker. Lausanne and Paris, 1979: 128.

1979

McKim-Smith, Gridley. "On Velázquez's Working Method." The Art Bulletin 61, no. 4 (December 1979): 594-597.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 247, no. 314, color repro, as by Diego Velazquez.

1985

European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 418, repro.

1986

Brown, Jonathan. Velázquez, Painter and Courtier. New Haven and London, 1986: 297, n. 24.

1990

Brown, Jonathan, and Richard G. Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1990: 124-127, repro. 123.

2004

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 171, no. 131, color repro.

2009

Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, D.C., 2009: 91, 96, 97, 99, 135 n. 62.

2013

Semyonova, Natalya, and Nicolas V. Iljine, eds. Selling Russia's Treasures: The Soviet Trade in Nationalized Art 1917-1938. New York and London, 2013: 138, 139, 180, repro.

2016

Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 397, color fig.

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