Las dos niñas - two paintings by José Claudio Antolínez, circa 1660

These two charming paintings - both in the collection of the Prado - are presumed to be of sisters and were, until recently, thought to be by the hand of Velázquez.

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José Claudio Antolínez (baptized 7 November 1635, Madrid – 30 May 1675, Madrid), Spanish painter of the Baroque period. He received his early training at the studio of Francisco Rizi. His mature style had a softness and sweetness reminiscent of the work of Murillo. But it seems his temperament was anything but sweet, and he was known for his arrogance and vanity, his constant sarcasm, and for playing cruel jokes on his colleagues, all of which gained him many enemies. He died at the age of only thirty-nine, apparently from a fever brought on by exhaustion and from wounds suffered in a fencing bout.

Random females - a selection of portraits

Portrait of a Young Lady in a Blue Dress, by Franz Schrotzberg, circa 1830s.

Anonymous Daguerreotype, circa 1840s-50s.

Mrs. Francine Clore, née Halphen, by Sir James Gunn, circa 1940.

Geertruida the Dubbelde, wife of Aert van Nes, by Bartholomeus van der Helst (background by Ludolf Bakhuysen), 1668.

Marie Caroline, duchesse de Berry, in the gardens of the Château de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne, by Baron Gérard, 1820.

"The Blue Veil", by Glauco Cambon, 1907.

Joséphine Baker, by Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, 1929.

Celeste Coltellini, Madame Meuricoffre, by Antoine-Jean Gros, 1790s.

Doña María Antonia Gonzaga de Caracciolo, marquesa viuda de Villafranca, by Francisco Goya y Lucientes, circa 1795.

Irene von Meyendorff, circa 1941-44.

"Portrait in Red", by Adolfo Feragutti Visconti, 1915.

Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as a child, by Christoph Friedrich Reinhold Lisiewski, 1791.

"Portrait d'une princesse de Bragance", Gillot Saint-Èvre, 1832.

Princess Egon von Ratibor, née Princess Leopoldine Lobkowicz, by Philip de László, 1899.

Minnie, the wife of Harold Alzana (seated behind), in costume for the "Gold Rush" tableau, 1949.

Mrs. Daniel DeSaussure Bacot, by Samuel F. B. Morse, 1820.

Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands, by François Joseph Kinson, 1824.

 Marie Madeleine Maret, née Léjéas, duchesse de Bassano, by Baron Gérard, circa 1805-10.

Court Lady, by Diego Velázquez, circa 1635.

Marie Henriette, duchesse de Brabant, later Queen of the Belgians, Sir William Ross, 1853.

Rachel, Countess of Dudley, née Gurney, wife of the 2nd Earl, circa 1911. (The photograph is dated "1911", but may have been taken earlier.)

"Madame P.", by Eugène Fichel, 1857.

Madame de Serres, by Joseph Boze, 1787.

Portrait of an Unknown Lady, circa 1830s.

Unknown Woman, by Carl Timoleon von Neff, 1845.

Princess Maria Cristina Amelia Teresa of Naples and Sicily, later Queen of Sardinia, by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1790.

Unknown subject and artist, circa 1690-1700.

The Reventlow Sisters, Malvina and Hilda, by Heinrich August Georg Schiøtt, circa 1850.

Adriana Jacobusdr Hinlopen, wife of Johannes Wijbrants, by Lodewijk van der Helst, 1667.

"A Portrait of a Beauty", Qing Dynasty, Nineteenth Century.

Portrait of a Lady In a Blue Dress, by Anton Ebert, 1893.

Unknown, circa 1860. Courtesy Ralf de Jonge.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman, by Alexander Grigoryevich Varnek, circa 1810s-20s.

Self-portrait by Therese Concordia Mengs Maron, sister of Anton Raphael Mengs, and wife to another painter, Anton von Maron, circa 1744-45.

An artist's artist friends - portraits of painters and sculptors by Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz

(Detail of below.)

Only recently have I begun to pay more attention to the paintings of Madazo y Kuntz. I think I previously found them too dark, too sober, too stereotypically "Spanish"; all those black clothes, you know. But looking closer, there's such a wonderful truthfulness to his work. His brushwork is tender and exquisite. And many of his portraits - some of those here, certainly - have the silvery elegance of a Velázquez. He painted and drew many portraits of his fellow artists - this is only a selection - most of which display a charming intimacy, an expression of the friendship shared by artist and subject; several are inscribed "A su amigo".

 Cosme Algarra y Hurtado, 1870.

Benito Soriano Murillo, 1855.

José Siro Pérez, 1839.

 Carlos de Haes, 1867.

 Eduardo Rosales Gallinas, 1867.

Edmund Wodick (Ludwig Eduard Edmund Wodick), 1845.

 Vicente Poleró y Toledo, 1873.

Carlos Luis de Ribera y Fievé, 1839.

Karl Müller, 1842.

Ventura de la Vega (Born Buenaventura José María de la Vega y Cárdenas), 1849. (OK, I admit it: I snuck a writer in.)

Perugino Sensi (Gaspare Sensi, also known as Gaspar Sensi y Baldachi), 1873.

Claudio Lorenzale i Sugrañes, 1841.

Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, the artist's son, also a very successful painter, 1875. Inscribed, " A mi querido hijo Raymundo".