Art: Another Velasquez

A Velasquez of Queen Isabella, hitherto unknown, appeared in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

The portrait was presented by the Queen to the Carmelite Convent near Madrid, in recognition of the hospitality of the nuns during a ‘disagreement with her unfaithful husband. The nuns, on receiving the portrait, intended subtle flattery to Isabella by painting the robes of the sisterhood over the rich court brocades ‘depicted by Velasquez.

The painting then pas.sed through noble families, to an attic, to Father Miguel de los Santos Colart. He removed the nun’s robes painted by the Carmelites, and brought the picture to his Chinese Mission in Manhattan. There it was examined by experts, endorsed as a genuine Velasquez, held for $200,000.