The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest
El caballero de la mano en el pecho, variously translated into English as The Gentleman with His Hand at His Breast,[1] Gentleman with his Hand on his Chest or The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest,[2] is an oil painting by El Greco.
Painted in Toledo around 1580, and on display at the Museo del Prado,[3] it is the most famous of a series of secular portraits of unknown gentlemen, all of them dressed in black and wearing white ruffs, against dark backgrounds.[1]
Some authors suggest it may be a portrait of Juan de Silva y Ribera, 3rd Marquis of Montemayor and warden of the Alcazar of Toledo.[3] The artist Rupert Shrive and the historian Alex Burghart have also argued that it may be a self portrait.[4]
References
- ^ a b Carney, Jo Eldridge (2001) Renaissance and Reformation: 1500-1620: a Biographical Dictionary, p. 175. Greenwood Publishing Group At Google Books. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ Scholz-Hänsel, Michael (2004) El Greco p. 52. Taschen
- ^ a b On-line gallery: The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest Museo del Prado. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ Shrive, Rupert (18 February 2004). "Face to face with El Greco". The Times. UK. Retrieved 9 September 2014.