Portrait of a Man (possibly José Nieto, c.1635–1645)

Portrait of a Man, possibly José Nieto, Velázquez's administrative subordinate at the Spanish court, painted around 1649, has been identified with the figure visible in the mirror background of Las Meninas — the same man, aged by six years, now the subject of an independent portrait. If the identification is correct, this modest portrait of a court official becomes a fascinating footnote to the great painting: the man in the background of Las Meninas, barely visible in the mirror's dim reflection, given his own painting, his own direct address to the viewer. Velázquez's willingness to paint court officials with the same quality of attention he gave royal sitters reflects the democratic impulse at the heart of his portraiture.

The sitter's dark costume and composed bearing are rendered with the economy of Velazquez's mature style. The face is modeled with warm, luminous tones that give the unknown sitter a vivid sense of individual presence.