Retrato de un caballero

By about 1600 El Greco had been settled in Toledo for more than 20 years, a Greek from Crete who had passed through Venice and Rome before finding his real career in Spain. Alongside the towering altarpieces, he kept a quiet sideline in portraits of the city's gentlemen, the lawyers, clergy and scholars he knew. This one wears the severe uniform of the Spanish court, a black doublet and a stiff white ruff that catches the only strong light. The face is loosely, confidently brushed, watchful and alive. The sitter's name is lost, though some have wondered, without proof, whether it might be the writer Cervantes, who had ties to El Greco's Toledo circle around then. Everything but the eyes and collar sinks away into shadow.