  About the Artwork
  
  
  This is one of Francisco de Zurbarán’s few known secular portraits. The subject is Don Juan Bazo de Moreda, a successful infantry captain and sergeant major in the formidable Spanish regiment called the “Tercios.” He is depicted life-size against a spare background and shown in military dress, with one hand resting on a ceremonial staff used to guide soldiers in battle. The dramatic lighting illuminates his face and emphasizes the strength with which he grasps the staff. The lengthy inscription in the corner is written in the past tense, suggesting the portrait was made posthumously. Zurbaran probably did not know the sitter personally; the family would have provided him with an image such as a portrait miniature from which to work. This celebratory painting would have served as a memento of and testimony to the military glory of a man who earned a knighthood for his extraordinary service to the Spanish crown.
 
 
From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)
  
  
  Title
  Don Juan Bazo de Moreda
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1655
  
  Artist
  Francisco de Zurbarán
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1598-1664
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Spanish
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 78 5/8 × 40 1/4 inches (199.7 × 102.2 cm)
  Framed: 88 7/8 × 51 1/4 × 3 5/8 inches (225.7 × 130.2 × 9.2 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, Jill Ford Murray Fund, and Joseph M. de Grimme Memorial Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2015.13
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
