Retrato de un caballero desconocido

Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman.

Retrato de un caballero desconocido (Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman) is an oil painting by El Greco.

Painted in Toledo between 1603 and 1607, and on display at the Museo del Prado, it has been cited as a possible portrait of Miguel de Cervantes, based on the fact that the author and playwright was living near Toledo in 1604 and that he knew people within El Greco's circle of friends.^[1]

It is one of a series of secular portraits of unknown gentlemen, all of them dressed in black and wearing white ruffs, against dark backgrounds, the most famous of which is El caballero de la mano en el pecho (The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest) (Ca. 1580).^[2]

References

El Greco (List of works) Chronology Technique and style Posthumous fame Paintings The Dormition of the Virgin El caballero de la mano en el pecho The Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio) The Burial of the Count of Orgaz View of Toledo Saint Peter and Saint Paul Saint Martin and the Beggar Opening of the Fifth Seal Portrait of a Doctor Portrait of Vincenzo Anastagi The Adoration of the Shepherds Laocoön Retrato de un caballero desconocido St. Francis in Prayer Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple Washington Minneapolis London Frick Madrid