Velázquez’s Rediscovered Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares Joins the Getty Museum’s Collection

Staff | Finestre sull' Arte | 24th September 2026

Lucien Freud and Francis Bacon both rated Velazquez as just about the greatest artist ever. Only 120 of his paintings are known (the Prado holds “more works than God”) so the “rediscovery” of a lost work is a big deal. The new work is a court portrait of Count Duke of Olivares, a powerful Spanish statesman. It is, says a curator, “a great example of Velazquez’s ability to capture the subject’s personality directly from life”. It has been purchased by Getty, reputedly the world’s richest museum.