El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara (1541–1609)
ca. 1600
El Greco's 'Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara' (c. 1600) portrays the Spanish Inquisitor General seated at the edge of a severely geometric armchair, glaring through sharp spectacles in a portrait of ecclesiastical power. The psychological penetration and Mannerist exaggeration combine into one of the most arresting portraits in Western art. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1929, it has been a central work of the museum's Spanish galleries ever since.
Exhibition Venue
Image source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art