The Jester Calabacillas (Cleveland)

rdf:langString The Jester Calabacillas (Cleveland)

rdf:langString The Jester Calabacillas (Spanish - El bufón Calabacillas) is a 1626-1632 oil on canvas painting by Diego Velázquez, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Its attribution is based on stylistic similarities to other works by the artist - for example, José López-Rey sees similarities in the treatment of the face in this work and that of Bacchus in The Triumph of Bacchus. Its subject is thought to be the jester Juan Calebasse, also painted by the artist in a work now in Madrid and a now-lost work entitled "calebasses in a turban", the latter recorded in 1642 and 1655 inventories of Diego Felipez de Guzmán's collection. It probably originated in the Buen Retiro Palace before being seized after the French occupation of Spain in 1808. The work was exhibited at a retrospective on the artist in Paris in 1866, at which time it was owned by the Duke of Persigny. After passing through other hands, it was sold at auction at Christie's in London in 1965 for 170,000 guineas, passing to its present owner later the same year.