The Buffoon Don Juan de Austria (El bufón Don Juan de Austria)

The date when Velázquez painted The Buffoon Known as Don Juan de Austria (Prado Museum, Madrid) has always been open to debate. Some experts propose that it was executed between 1632 and 1633, pointing out the clothing that the sitter is wearing, whilst others believe it could have been made in 1636 or even later, due to the painting's loose brushwork, possibly corresponding with Velázquez's final years.

The name of the buffoon contains a healthy dose of irony and recalls Charles V's natural son: Don John of Austria (Ratisbon, 1545 or 1547-Bouge, 1578). It has also been suggested that the person depicted here by Velázquez could have been the son born of the relationship between Philip IV and his mistress La Calderona, a child named Juan José de Austria.

Don Juan de Austria is shown wearing some slightly shabby velvet breeches and an extravagant plumed hat. The bushy moustache on his face lends the character a comical air, an effect which is heightened by his scrawny legs. Arranged around him are various objects referring to war, a subject which is also alluded to in the naval battle scene which we can see through the window in the background.

The loose brushstrokes used by Velázquez in this canvas make Goya's task, whose efforts to copy the work end in failure, considerably more difficult. In the two state proofs the window makes an appearance although the battle itself does not. The Aragonese artist has carefully reproduced the metal objects at Don Juan's feet, though he is unable to fully capture their lustre. What's more, he has great difficulty depicting both the clothing and the face of the figure. The use of new technical methods in the second proof may represent a failed attempt to overcome the problems that we can see in the first state proof.