Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez) (Spanish, Seville 1599–1660 Madrid), Portrait of a Man, ca. 1630–35. Oil on canvas, 27 x 21 3/4 in. (68.6 x 55.2 cm). The Jules Bache Collection, 1949. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 49.7.42. © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

The face and head of this informal portrait have been articulated with precision, while the torso, costume, and background have been sketched in with great brevity. When the painting was restored in 1925, it was carefully "finished" to fit in with current taste, an intervention that lowered its quality considerably. More recent restoration has revived the artist's intention to quickly capture a likeness.
 
The sitter closely resembles a figure in Velázquez's historical painting Surrender at Breda (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid), and it remains unclear whether this is a preparatory study for that work or an independent picture. There is debate as well about whether the figure may be Velázquez himself. The artist painted a number of self-portraits, one of which was in his posthumous inventory, where it is described as "a portrait of Diego Velázquez, clothes to be finished." Does this entry refer to this exceptional work? 

This work is exhibited in the "Unfinished: Thoughts Left Invisible" exhibition, on view through September 4th, 2016. #MetBreuer