Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez

Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez

Diego Velazquez, a true connoisseur of art and an artist of paramount importance in the genre of Spanish Baroque Art, painted Las Meninas, or The Maids of Honour, in 1656. In the 17^th century, Spanish painters were regarded as craftsmen, not artists, as poets and musicians often were. Thus, Spanish painters were often not as well treated as their fellow European counterparts.  Velazquez, however, with the aide of his marvelous talent, overcame the hierocracy inherent in his society. In February of 1651, Velazquez was appointed as the aposentador mayor del palacio, or the palace chamberlain, of Philip IV’s royal court.

 The king himself seems to have had a very close relationship with Velazquez. This can be seen through a multitude of instances. First, the King allowed and trusted Velazquez to include him in Las Meninas, a very rare occurrence, as the King was hesitant to allow himself to be portrayed in art in his old age. The king also granted Velazquez, in the early 1650s, a studio of his own. This studio was located in the Pieza Principal, or the main room, which had formerly belonged to the late Balthasar Chrarles, the only son of King Philip IV and Elizabeth of France. This is the setting of Velazquez’s masterwork, Las Meninas. The King also gave Velazquez an unusual degree of freedom, allowing Velazquez to decorate the interior of the King’s palace. Philip IV’s fondness for Velazquez could be attributed to his personal love for art, for the King is noted to have often watched Velazquez paint. At the death of Velazquez, the King wrote in a memorandum: “I am crushed,” a mere three words that reveal the true nature and depth of their relationship. Although the position of Velazquez in Spanish society is interesting in and of itself, his grand work, Las Meninas, is even more intriguing.

Las Meninas is not the typical Velazquez, Baroque painting. Velazquez and his contemporaries were mostly noted for their “bodegones,” or scenes of ordinary people doing ordinary things. Nonetheless, bodegones were not simply still life paintings. They often contained elements of moral and religious symbolism.  Although this painting is clearly not a bodegone, it still reflects Baroque art and society in numerous ways. One of the ways in which this painting reflects Baroque art is its utilization of stark contrasts of light and dark. In this painting, dark backgrounds beautifully clash with the bright and vibrant subjects in the foreground. Velazquez’s painting, like other Baroque works, depicts reality very accurately in his characterization of human figures, animals, and everyday objects.

Las Meninas also depicts happenings in Baroque society. The intricate relationship between reality and illusion (which I will soon discuss) was a main component of 17^th century baroque Spanish literature (for example, in Don Quixote by Cervantes). Additionally, Velazquez portrays happenings in Baroque society through one of the main subjects in his painting, Las Meninas: Infanta Margaret Theresa. In this painting, a young Margaret Theresa is surrounded by “maids of honour,” chaperones, a “bodyguard,” two dwarfs, and a dog. The daughter of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria, Margaret Theresa was born in 1651 and boasted the titles of Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Archeduchess consort of Austria, and Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia.

What fascinates me the most about this painting is its uniqueness and, most of all, its complex, enigmatic nature. At the first glance- and even beyond the first glance- it is difficult to differentiate between what is reality and what is illusion. There is a very uncertain and confusing relationship between the painter, subject-model(s), and the viewer(s). On the back wall of the room, there is a mirror. This mirror, in my opinion, is the source of these uncertain relationships.  We know that this is a mirror, because it is a shiny and seemingly reflective rectangle, unlike the canvases that surround it. Reflected in the mirror, is an image of the King and Queen of Spain. Are we, the viewer, looking into the mirror? If so, are we the King and Queen? Or, is the image in the mirror a reflection of what Velazquez (depicted on the left hand-side of the painting) is drawing? Or, are the King and Queen standing in front of the painting in the direction that the young princess is looking towards? These are the first few possibilities that came to my mind, but the possibilities are, in fact, endless. To me, this scene is a conversation of glances and reactions to glances. The mirror in Las Meninas reminded me very much of a portion of Van Eyke’s “Arnolfini Protrait” that we studied in class:

A portion of Eyke's painting

What also fascinates me about Las Meninas, is that it is a royal portrait, yet it seems very informal. The artist, Velazquez, even seems to be promoting himself in the painting! This is Velazquez’s only confirmed self-portrait and in this self-portrait, nobility surrounds Velazquez.

The sheer size of this painting amazes me. This painting unfolds on seven different planes. The seven planes are (i) the canvas on which Velazquez is painting (ii) the dog and the dwarfs, (iii) the princess with the maids of honor, (iv) Velazquez himself, (v) the man and woman, (vi) the mirror and surrounding canvases, and (vii) the man in the doorway.

As Baroque painter Luca Giordano once stated, Las Meninas, is a true demonstration of the “theology of painting.”