Judge Orders Prado to Hold Disputed Velázquez Painting in Divorce Case

A Spanish judge has ordered the Museo del Prado in Madrid to hold onto a painting attributed to Diego Velázquez at the center of a divorce dispute between steel magnate José María Aristrain and his ex-wife Gema Navarro, according to El País. 

The painting ended up at the Prado through a chain of state intervention. After Navarro filed a complaint alleging the work had been wrongly kept from her, a Madrid judge, acting with the support of prosecutors, ordered Spain’s Ministry of Culture to take custody of it citing its potential importance to the country’s historical heritage. The ministry then designated the Prado as custodian. The work was removed from Aristrain’s Madrid residence and transferred to the museum’s storage on March 17, where it will remain until ownership is resolved. 

At the center of the dispute is a portrait of Philip IV linked to Velázquez’s early years in Madrid. A different version of the composition hangs in the Prado, and scholars have long debated whether this example is an autograph replica. Some experts have pointed to brushwork consistent with the artist, while others have raised concerns about its condition and past restoration. 

The painting, now held by the Prado, has previously surfaced at auction. It failed to sell in Madrid in 2007 with a $2.9 million starting price, amid doubts over its attribution. It reappeared in 2015 with a much lower estimate and was acquired for €878,000 by Navarro, using her own funds, according to El País. 

Although the couple were married under a separation-of-property agreement, the work remained in Aristrain’s home after their split, prompting the complaint. With access to the painting contested, the court moved to place it under state control rather than leave it with either party. 

For now, the Prado is not exhibiting the work so much as safeguarding it, turning a private divorce into a public custody battle over one of the few Velázquez paintings still outside institutional hands.