Identification as a self portrait is supported by the idea that the same figure appears several times in El Greco's oeuvre, aging alongside the artist.

[4] According to scholar Richard G. Mann, El Greco's later work was inspired by his time studying Venetian art.

Mayer alleges that this work can be identified as article number 189 of the inventory, which describes "a portrait of my father, with a black frame".

[12] The first scholar to refute the identification as a self portrait was Paul Lafond in 1906, who cited a lack of evidence identifying the sitter as the artist himself.

[15] August L. Mayer's 1926 argument for identification as a self portrait was generally accepted by scholars until Harry B. Wehle's 1940 catalogue which points to a lack of evidence connecting the work to Jorge Manuel Theotocopuli's inventory.

Scholarly debate surrounding the date of this portrait centers around the age of the sitter as well as the clothing worn by the subject.

According to scholar Keith Christiansen, experts in Spanish dress of the era note that the width of the sitter's ruffle was popular in the fashion of the 1590s.

Guinard's idea is supported by a trend in portraits of older individuals in which formal ruffles appear ten to fifteen years out of style.

This work has been widely circulated in the form of a Spanish postage stamp, created in 1965 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the artist’s death.