A ritual air of sanctioned duplicity at times surrounds auctions where the stakes loom high. Ostensibly, two big art dealers bid against each other until the hammer falls. In all probability, each represents a major museum or collector who has secretly commissioned the dealer to bid for them. The theory is that if the true bidders were known the price would skyrocket. When the game is played out, the art world is left to guess who actually bought the piece.
Thus it was with Velásquez's portrait of his mulatto assistant, Juan de Pareja, which...
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