Goya’s first significant experiences of printmaking were his two series of etchings after Velázquez’s royal portraits. This is a copy after Velázquez’s painting of an employee of the Royal Print Office at the Court of Philip IV of Spain. The subject is Don Diego de Acedo, also known as ‘el primo’, or ‘the cousin’. The series sold widely abroad and succeeded in promoting Spain’s cultural status and its established masters. Despite Goya’s later prints of social satire, the artist continued to acquire patronage from royalty and the church throughout turbulent political changes.