Portrait of a Doctor

The figure represented in this painting is identified as a doctor on account of the ring on the thumb of his left hand. This could be Luis Mercado, physician to Philip II, or Rodrigo de la Fuente, a personal friend of El Greco’s and a very influential figure in Toledo at that time. The work is cited in the 1686 inventory of the Alcázar Palace of Madrid, where it remained until the fire of 1734, when it was moved to the Buen Retiro Palace.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

(Museum: Museo del Prado)