A front page article in The New York Times,“Restored, Then Reconsidered, A Met Velazquez Is Vindicated”, discusses how, after a year of study and treatment, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Portrait of Philip IV” has been reattributed to Velazquez almost four decades after it was downgraded to the work of an assistant or contemporary follower. The portait, which was in terrible condition with many layers of yellowed varnish and extensive repaintings, is thought to have been painted by Velazquez as one of several replicas of an official portrait. An acetate tracing of another of these replicas(collection of the Meadows Museum) was used by conservator Michael Gallagher when he positioned and repainted a missing eye.
A detail of the hand after cleaning and before inpainting