The identity of the painting's subject is not known, but it is thought the balding, bearded man in a stiff, starched collar may be Juan Mateos, KingPhilipIVof Spain's master of the hunt.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599 - 1660) was the leading artist in the court ofKingPhilipIVofSpain, and is best known for his portraits of the royal family, including his masterpiece, Las Meninas.
Some are distinguished by design or material, such as the nearly two pounds of solid gold that KingPhilip II ofSpain attached to his profession of fealty to Pope Paul IV in 1555.