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LAS
MENINAS by Diego
Velázquez
Oil
painting on canvas 10’5”
by 9’5”
El Prado Museum, Madrid,
Spain
Las Meninas
by Diego Velázquez
This painting was painted in
1656 by Diego Velázquez, Spanish
court painter. It is considered
to be one of the very best
paintings in the world. It can
be seen inside the Prado art
museum in Madrid, Spain.
The subject of the painting
deals with the royal family of
the Hapsburg King, Felipe IV.
Las Meninas is a
portuguese word that means
“ladies in waiting”. Several
personages can be seen in the
painting. To the left and in
the foreground is the painter
Velázquez, who is painting the
King of Spain, Felipe IV and the
Queen Mariana of Austria whom
the painter is gazing at and who
are witnesses to the scene (as
are we) as it is presented on
the finished canvas. Also in
the foreground, and in the
center of the composition, is
the Princess Margarita who is
accompanied by the two Meninas,
or ladies in waiting. To the
right are two dwarfs who are
playing with a dog. Behind them
to the right is a lady dressed
as a nun and a gentlemen. To
the rear of the gentleman is the
profile of a man who seems to be
leaving from the room through a
door that is open and through
which light filters into the
room.
The scene on canvas takes place
in a room inside the Alcázar of
Madrid, which burned in a fire
in 1734. The room is decorated
with a series of paintings. The
“meninas” or ladies in waiting,
are Isabel Velazco and Agustina
Sarmiento. Standing closest to
Agustina Sarmiento to the right
are the dwarves, María Barbola
and Nicolás Pertusato. Behind
them in the darkness are the
doña Marcela de Ulloa and an
unidentified caballero.
In the background, through the
doorway, we catch a glimpse of
the Queen’s quartermaster, don
José Nieto de Velázquez, who is
in the perspective center of the
painting.
The painter has just stepped out
from behind the canvas to study
the royal models. The dwarf at
the right has her hand on her
breast and seems also to be
looking at the royals. Behind
them is the unidentified
courtier with his hands clasped
and who is also looking forward
toward the royal presence. The
two meninas are attending
the Princess bathed in white
light and she even seems to be
looking out toward the visitors,
or models in the room.
On the back wall of the studio
hangs a mirror. All of the
other objects on the wall are
canvases of other works. The
only item that appears
differently, does so because it
is a mirror with bright edges
and colors that contrast with
the dark and unlighted paintings
nearby. In the mirror can be
seen two persons: the father
and mother of the Princess, King
Felipe IV and Queen Mariana.
They are the subjects whom
Velázquez is painting onto the
canvas and at whom he is staring
while he paints them.
It is said that there are three
perspectives presented in this
composition: (1) the King and
the Queen who are looking at
this scene as they are being
painted by Velázquez, (2) the
painter who has painted himself
into the composition and who has
been a witness to the scene,
recording it for posterity, (3)
and the public, and other
spectators who are involved in
the scene within the painting,
and like us, are looking at the
finished painting.
Careful analysis centuries later
has revealed that if one looks
at the lines of perspective, the
image contained in the mirror is
not a direct reflection
of the real figures of the royal
couple as models. Perspective
actually requires the mirror to
reflect what is on the canvas.
It is believed that if one looks
carefully at the representation
of the mirror, it has the tone
of a formal portrait. The image
there is grainy and indistinct,
rather than a sharp, clear
reflection. If this is true,
then the mirror is actually
reflecting what is depicted on
the canvas, and not the models
in the room directly. There
exists for the public to view, a
painting within a painting and
it is visible only through the
mirror image. The King and
Queen as models, can see their
painted representation as it
reflects in the mirror. The
mirror, then, is an illusion.
It does not reflect the reality
of the King and Queen, rather
the painting of them as
interpreted by Velázquez. Just
as in Cervante’s Don
Quixote, illusion and
reality become confused.
In the 1970’s, this painting
hung by itself in a smaller
salon of the Prado Museum. It
is a large painting and it was
hung in one corner of the room
facing its opposite corner. In
the other corner hung a large
mirror of equal proportion to
the painting. In front of the
mirror was a
strategically-placed bench from
where the public could view the
painting. The intent was for
the public to view the painting,
not directly, but rather as a
reflection through the mirror.
In doing so, the painting took
on a perspective of depth,
similar to 3-D. Velázquez
accomplished this by contrasting
dark and light colors in the
painting that alternated from
back to front. For example, the
opened door in the rear
introduces bright light into a
darkened room, the center of the
room is dark, and the front of
the room nearest the subject is
again bathed in white light into
which the Princess is standing.
Depth is produced using this
technique.
It is said that the King liked
this painting so much, that he
took up the brush and painted
onto the chest of the painter a
red cross symbolizing the Order
of Santiago, an order to which
only the greatest of Spanish
subjects were ever inducted.
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