The Getty Museum has acquired a recently rediscovered 17th century painting by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez, officials announced Wednesday.
“Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares” will be on display this fall in the museum’s East Pavilion.
“Velázquez was one of the greatest painters of early modern Europe and one of the most remarkable proponents of the long and multifaceted tradition of state portraiture,” Timothy Potts, the Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle director of the Getty Museum, said in a statement. “This work is a landmark addition to Getty’s collection, made even more extraordinary by the painting’s history as it was not fully known until recently.”
The painting depicts Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, better known as the Count-Duke of Olivares, in bust-length. Adorned in gold-trimmed armor and a red sash, he turns to look intently at the viewer. Olivares served as valido, or prime minister, to the Spanish King Philip IV and held near-absolute power over Spanish governance for over two decades. He was central to military and administrative reforms and was portrayed by Velázquez in a number of paintings.
Museum officials said Velázquez (1599-1660) likely executed the painting as a diplomatic gift to cardinal Francesco Barberini during his embassy to Madrid in the summer of 1626. Believed to have remained in Italy, the painting was recorded in the Coppellotti collection in Asti over the course of the 20th century and resided with the family until it was acquired by a private collector in 2025 and later sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum.
“This commanding and almost intimidating portrait is a strong visual record of one of Spain’s most powerful 17th-century statesmen that exemplifies the painter’s innovation in court portraiture and his superb ability to capture the sitter’s personality directly from life,” said Davide Gasparrotto, senior curator of paintings at the Getty Museum. “It is a major addition to the Getty’s collection of 17th century European paintings and adds a major example to our growing holdings of Spanish paintings.”
It is the first painting by Velázquez to enter Getty’s collection and the first by the artist to reside on the West Coast of the United States.