“Las Meninas” (1656) by Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 318 x 276 cm

Present Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid

Diego Velazquez’s “Las Meninas” is 1656 painting, the title is Spanish for “Maid of Honor” and
its alternate name is “The Family of Philip IV”. This work is one of the most celebrated and
analyzed works in Western painting. The painting is a group portrait of the Infanta Margarita in
centre, who is attended by two maids of honor: Maria Agustina Sarmiento and Isabel de
Velasco. In addition to the group, there is the artist himself working on a large canvas, the
dwarves Mari Barbola and Nicolasito Pertusato, the dwarf in right corner (from the viewers side)
is provoking a mastiff and the lady-in-waiting Marcela de Ulloa talking to an attendant. In the
background there is chamberlain Jose Nieto standing in the doorway and reflected in the mirror
are the faces of the King Philip IV and the Queen Mariana of Austria.1

The painting was completed in the year of 1656 by the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age,
Diego Velazquez for the King Philip IV. The set of Las Meninas is Velazquez’s studio, which
was given by Philip IV and was the Pieze Principal (main room) of the late Balthasar Charles’s
living quarters that was by then serving as the palace museum. Velazquez’s technique of
painting is inspired by “Baroque”2 and the medium used is oil on canvas. It was analyzed that
the main pigments used were lead white, azurite, vermilion and red lake, ochre and carbon
black. These were the usual pigments of the Baroque period frequently used by Velazquez in
his other paintings.3

The painting’s present location is at Museo del Prado in Madrid but before getting placed in the
museum, the work suffered a great deal of tragedies. When seen closer, we may notice
truncations on both the sides which show that the painting has been cut down on both the left
and right sides.4 It was damaged in the fire that destroyed the Alcazar in 1734 and was restored
by Court painter Juan Garcia de-Miranda. The left cheek of the Infanta was almost completely
repainted to compensate for a substantial loss of pigment.5 After this, the painting was
inventoried as part of the Royal Collection in 1747-48. Then in 1794, an inventory reverted to a
version of the earlier title, “The Family of Philip IV”, which was repeated in the records of 1814.

1“Las Meninas” depiction stated by the writer Antonio Palomino in his “History of Spanish painters of 1724”; entitled as “In
which the most Illustrious work by Diego Velazquez”; is referred by the Museo del Prado;
(https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/las-meninas/9fdc7800-9ade-48b0-ab8b-edee94ea877f)
2
“Baroque is the period and the style that used exaggerated motion in order to produce drama and tension in art”;
by George Konstantinidis; “Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez”; (http://www.velazquezlasmeninas.com)
3
“In around 1981, a technical investigation including a pigment analysis of ‘Las Meninas’ was conducted in Museo
del Prado, where the used pigments of the Baroque period was reveled”; mentioned in McKim-Smith, G.
Andersen-Bergdoll, R. Newman; “Examining Velazquez”; Yale University Press, New Haven,1988
4 “There is no documentation as to the dates or reasons for the trimming; Lopez-Rey also states that the truncation is more
notable on the right”; Jose Lopez-Rey (1999), “Velazquez”; Vol.II, p.306
5 “Records of 1735 show that the original frame was lost during the painting’s rescue from the fire. The appraisal of 1747-48

makes reference of the painting having been lately restored”; Lopez-Rey (1999), Vol. II, pp.306,310
The painting entered the collection of the Museo del Prado on it foundation in 1819, the
museum catalogue listed the work for the first time as Las Meninas.6

It has been noted that with time the painting has suffered a loss of texture and hue. One of the
most prominent examples of this observation is the faded contrast between blue and white
pigments in the costumes of the meninas. Due to its size (318 x 276 cm), importance and value,
the painting is not lent out for exhibition.7 So, the painting might remain forever on the wall at
Museo del Prado in Madrid.

The painting is considered as an enigmatic group portrait; there is no satisfactory theory to

understand since, lot is going on inside and while looking at the painting the viewers become
part of it. The optical sense of the artist is so divine to formulate a final explanation for the work.
Art Historian and Velazquez expert Jonathan Brown says, “Few paintings in the history of art
have generated so many and varied interpretations as this, Velazquez’s culminating work”8 and
during a lecture in 2014 at ‘The Frick Collection’ he quipped, “I feel in my bones that I may be
suffering from the early stages of LMFS- Las Meninas Fatigue Syndrome; I am not referring to
the painting, but writing about it.”9

The set of the painting provides a geometrical grid with a single vanishing point. In the centre
stands the Infanta Margaret Theresa and she is attended by two maids of honor. To the right
(from viewers side) of the princess, is Isabel de Velasco, who is poised to curtsy to the princess
but her eyes are directed towards the viewer and on the other side is Maria Agustina Sarmiento,
who is kneeling before the princess and offering her a drink from red cup; her focus is entirely
on the princess. To the extreme right of the princess are two dwarfs: the German, Maria Barbola
and the Italian, Nicolas Pertusato who is playfully engaged in waking up a sleepy or bored
mastiff with his foot. Behind them stands princess’s chaperone, Marcela de Ulloa; dressed in
mourning and is looking at something in right direction or talking to an unidentified person
standing next to her. In the background, between the heads of the princess and the maid
curtsying her, is Jose Nieto, who is shown paused with his right knee bent and other feet on
different step. It is quite confusing to decide whether he is coming or going or have just got on
stairs to hold open a curtain; may be for Velazquez to understand the rhythm of light required for
his painting. As we may see reflection of a couple in the mirror situated to the left of Jose Nieto,
it is assumed that the couple is the King Philip IV and the Queen Mariana of Austria. It is an
interesting assumption that Nieto may be seen only by the King and Queen, who share the
viewer’s point of view, and not by the rest of the figures in foreground. To the extreme left of the
canvas is Velazquez himself, also looking towards the viewer past a large canvas supported by
an easel. He is holding his color palette and paint brush, he seems to pose in an observing
position as if he is studying his subject for the painting that he is painting there in the canvas.

Velazquez has painted twelve figures, including the reflection of the King and Queen, and the
dog; yet they occupy only the lower half of the canvas. The geometric perspective of the
painting provides Nieto at the doorway as a vanishing point by extending the line of the meeting
of wall and ceiling on the right and the princess as a focal point. The appearance of natural light
in the hall may be from two sources: through the window to the left and the light from the open

6
Lopez-Rey (1999), Vol. II, pp. 310-11
7
“Las Meninas isn’t budging from its wall at the Prado; it never does and never will”; by Jason Farago; “Las
Meninas: The world’s first photobomb?”; on BBC Culture Story; March 20, 2015;
(http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150320-the-worlds-first-photobomb)
8
Jonathan Brown; “Velazquez: Painter and Courtier”; Yale University Press,1986
9
Editorial;Casey Lesser, “Centuries Later, People still Don’t Know what to Make of Las Meninas”; March 23, 2018;
(https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-centuries-people-las-meninas)
door in the background. He has used the mechanics of light to highlight the figures, showing the
stretch of high ceiling hall and space & distance among the figures. The light appears to stream
in from the right, on hair of the dwarf playing with the dog. The light touches obliquely on the
cheek of lady-in-waiting, who is curtsying the princess but not on her facial features. The
Princess is fully illuminated by the light; her face is upturned towards the source of light and is
framed by her blond delicate hair, her dress is modeled by the tone of light, giving her angelic
appearance. The reflection of the King and Queen in the mirror may lead to assume that they
were standing where viewers stand, while Velazquez painted their portrait since six of the
figures are seeing in that direction. However, the canvas in Las Meninas seems quite bigger to
get that perfect reflection in the mirror so, it may be assumed that in the hall, there is enough
distance to make mirror as a focal point to form the reflection.

No wonder, there is no stable explanation to understand the mystery of light and shadows, and
emotions and depth of the painting. The depth of optics used is so divine and the story behind
the painting that who exactly is the subject matter and what is going on, the mechanics is
beyond that period and it can’t be understood in a few attempts. In the words of “Foucault”, that
seems appropriate; the artist can be seen caught in a moment of stillness, at the neutral centre
of his oscillation. His dark torso and bright face are half-way between the visible and the
invisible: emerging from the canvas beyond our view, he moves into our gaze; but when, in a
moment he makes astep to the right, removing himself from our gaze, he will be standing
exactly in front of the canvas he is painting. He will enter the region where his painting,
neglected for an instant, will, for him, become visible once more, free of shadow and free of
reticence. As though the artist could not at the same time be seen on the picture where he is
represented and also see that upon which he is representing something.10 The painting involves
some kind of strategy to commend the presence of Velazquez himself in ‘Las Meninas’. He is
present on both the sides of the painting; inside as well as outside.

10
Foucault, Michel. “The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. 2966. Paris: Gallimard; pp. 3-4