On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01201
- Author
- Velázquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y (Spanish)
- Title
- The Buffoon Diego de Acedo, `The Cousin'
- Chronology
- 1635
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 107 cm x 82 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCIONREAL
- Procedence
- Royal collection
Don Diego de Acedo, a servant in
the palace beginning in 1635,
combined his work as a buffoon —if,
in fact he was one, as tradition
would have it— with other jobs,
such as royal courier and Royal
Seal Officer. His responsibility
for the seal with the royal
signature explains the presence of
the folio he holds, and the writing
materials on the floor.
The nickname, “el Primo” (“The
Cousin”) may be derived from the
fact that that is how the King
addressed Grandees, who had the
privilege of leaving their hats on
in his presence, just as the
buffoon is in this portrait. If
that is the case, it would mean
that the nickname was intended to
make fun of his pretended grandeur,
although it has also been suggested
that he was a relative of the
painter.
The portrait's background is
unfinished and clearly shows a
series of vertical brushstrokes
that are the result of cleaning the
brush directly on the canvas.
Although there is evidence that
Velasquez painted a portrait of Don
Diego in 1644 during the Royal
sojourn in Aragon, it is not
certain that this is the same work.
It was in the Alcázar Palace in
Madrid during the seventeenth
century and was then moved to the
Torre de la Parada, in El Pardo,
and finally to the Royal Palace.
From there, it entered the Prado
Museum in 1819.
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