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Portrait of the Jester Calabazas
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Museum

Portrait of the Jester Calabazas

c. 1631–32
Diego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660) visual detail
ArtistDiego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660)
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Market Intelligence

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Public evidence
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Provenance

Public
ca. 1631-32 - until at least 1808

Royal Collections (Palacio del Beun Retiro, Madrid)

- possibly 1863

Private Collection (Great Britain)

by 1867 - 1872

Jean-Gilbert-Victor Fialin, Duc de Persigny, 1808-1872 (Paris, France) (sold, Hotel Drouot, Paris, A...

by 1881

Maurice Cottier (died 1881), (Paris, France, and Château Cangé, Touraine.

by 1906 - 1915

Sir George Donaldson (1845-1925) London, England, and Brighton, England, sold to Herbert Frederick C...

1915-1939

Herbert Frederick Cook, later 3rd Baronet, 1868-1939 (Richmond, England), by inheritance to Francis...

1939-

Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th Baronet, 1907-1978 since 1956 (sold, Christie's, London, March 1...

Source provenance text

Royal Collections (Palacio del Beun Retiro, Madrid) Private Collection (Great Britain) Jean-Gilbert-Victor Fialin, Duc de Persigny, 1808-1872 (Paris, France) (sold, Hotel Drouot, Paris, April 4,1872, as "Le Fou," for 750 francs Maurice Cottier (died 1881), (Paris, France, and Château Cangé, Touraine. Sir George Donaldson (1845-1925) London, England, and Brighton, England, sold to Herbert Frederick Cook, 1915. Herbert Frederick Cook, later 3rd Baronet, 1868-1939 (Richmond, England), by inheritance to Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 1939. Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th Baronet, 1907-1978 since 1956 (sold, Christie's, London, March 19, 1965, lot 104, through Thomas Agnew & Sons (London, England) to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

The Cleveland Museum of Artconfidence 100%

Exhibitions

Public
Source exhibition text

Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965). Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984). Velazquez. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 3, 1989-January 7, 1990); Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain (January 29-March 30, 1990). Velázquez, His Third Journey to Italy. Palazzo Ruspoli, Rome (March 28-June 30, 2001). Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 25-June 29, 2003). The Palace of the Planet King. Philip IV and the Buen Retiro. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (July 5-November 27, 2005). Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007). Dalí and the Spanish Baroque. Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, FL (organizer) (February 2-June 24, 2007). Diego Velázquez: The Early Court Portraits. Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX (organizer) (September 16, 2012-January 13, 2013). Velázquez. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 25-July 13, 2015). Exposition Retrospective. Palais des Champs-Elysees, Paris, France (1866).

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Sourced Overview Evidence

Calabazas, a jester in the court of King Philip IV of Spain, had physical and mental disabilities, a state that the artist emphasizes, rather than tries to hide. While the Spanish court prized and doted upon people with disabilities such as Calabazas, Velázquez transformed their depiction in portraiture. This startling work uses the format of the formal, full-length court portrait to present a type of person who was generally perceived as marginal at this point in history and profoundly humanizes him.

The Cleveland Museum of Artconfidence 100%

Evidence state

0 observed sales · 0 comparable sales · 8 structured provenance events · 10 structured exhibitions.

Place Of OriginShort DescriptionProvenance TextExhibition HistoryCredit Line