Las Meninas

By: Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, born in 1599, was a Spanish court painter; the leading
artist of the court of King Philip IV. He is best known for his style of portraiture – completing over 20
portraits of the King and his royal court. This made him one of Spain’s most recognized artists along with
El Greco, Francisco Ribalta, and Jusepe Ribera. Velázquez’s Las Meninas is a group portrait detailing the
King and Queen’s daughter Infanta Margarit , her attendants, and the other members of the royal court
of Spain. The portrait is considered as one of the most complex masterpieces of Baroque art which
mixes realism and non-realism into one magnificent painting.
 Originally titled as The Family of Philip IV, Las Meninas cleverly depicts Velazquez himself
working in his studio in the palace while the royal family along with their court are engrossed in their
surroundings. The painting was composed like a scene from a play, with all actors placed in perfectly
planned positions around a central figure who is the five-year-old daughter of the king, Infanta
Maragarita Teresa. The characters involved in the portrait (from left to right) Diego Velazquez who
stands behind his huge canvas, painting the scene; Maria-Augustina Sarmiento, the first lady-in-waiting
(menina), who offers water to the future empress; the Infanta Margarita; Isabel de Velasco, the second
lady-in-waiting, who curtsies; and the two female dwarfs - Maribarbola with her battered face, and
Nicolas de Pertusato, who teasingly kicks the sleepy dog lolling on the floor. In the shadows behind them
is the ladies' governess Marcela de Ulloa, and an usher; standing in the open doorway is Don Jose de
Nieto Velazquez, the marshal of the queen's palace, who draws aside a curtain through which light
enters, gently adding to - and competing with - that from another source, an unseen window on the
right.

The portrait is an ambiguous work of art that lets the viewers vacillate from different centers of
weight. Systematically scattered throughout the painting it is like a snapshot of a moment where the
characters are focused on each of their individual work, giving the artwork a sense of spontaneity. The
characters in the portrait are grouped in pairs and trios of varying numbers of male and female
composition, which creates links and contrasts that slide the eyes of the viewers back and forth across
the canvas. The dominant pairing of male and female characters across the portrait accentuates the
central figure, while the two groups of three internally made up of doubles and triples are aligned in a
horizontal plane. This group of six composes the entirety of the portrait’s 3-Dimensional space. The eyes
are drawn from Velazquez to Don Jose de Nieto Velazquez to Marcela de Ulloa and the usher, then to
the King and Queen in the mirror which ultimately leads the z-axis forward beyond the portrait itself.
This indicates a depth that the viewer cannot see. This motif of twos and threes are established in place
by the two large canvases in the backwall overtop the two door frames and the central mirror. The right
sides of the frame of the bottom triple (depicted by Door – Glass – Door), which are vertical lines that
correspond with the princess and the two ladies beside her. This stabilizes the natural movement of our
eyes from the King and Queen and to their daughter. Furthermore, the mirror containing the reflection
of the King and Queen is drawn to the doorway with light illuminating from it. The princess makes up
the three central focus point of the portrait, which scatters the weight across the canvas. Velazquez's
use of color is guided by his awareness of the differences between cool and warm colors, and the
possibility of modifying hues by contrast. Thus, he rarely used primary colors, and instead of using a
brilliant red, preferred to create an optical illusion of it. A good example of his approach is the red
ribbon in the dress of the Infanta Margarita. The pigment used by Velazquez is not vermilion but red
ochre. The bright red color we see comes only from the contrast: both the cool grey surrounding it and
the point of yellow in it magnify the redness, and so transform red ochre into something much redder.
On the other hand, vermilion was used, mixed with white, in the Infanta's face to produce the cool light
pink of the cheeks. The vanishing point of the portrait in a one-point perspective creates a diagonal line
at an angle which is reflected into the mirror and directed to the canvas the Velazquez was working on.
Going back to the two large canvases on top of the backwall of the portrait are replicas of two paintings
of Peter Paul Rubens. It is inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses; in the right, Marsyas challenges the god
Apollo into a flute playing contest, and in the left, the goddess Athena challenges Arachne into a
weaving contest. Both canvases depict a contest between the gods and mortals about the arts. Both
mortals are punished in the end as they fail to recognize the divine source of the artistic endeavor,
which clarifies and emphasize Velazquez’s vigorous interpretation of the value of art that whether it
comes from the divine or from the lifelong practice of craft that art is art no matter what.

Las Meninas is a portrait that shows a painting within a painting. Looking at it from my point of
view, I felt overwhelmed by the elements that Velazquez has put together to create such a beautiful
masterpiece. The use of various horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines to help direct the flow of optical
activity within the canvas made me notice all the details that are present within the portrait.
Furthermore, the style, colors, perspective, usage of space and volume as well as the harmony, unity,
balance, clarity, and proportion of the portrait made me feel like I was personally in that moment. Living
that moment and its elements is pointing out to me to see what art can do. The elements of art and
principles of design when combined with one’s own creativity and uniqueness can make a sketch,
portrait, or a painting life-like and eternal.

Overall, Las Meninas is a masterpiece of Baroque art that incorporated the elements of art and
principles of designs. It has succeeded in capturing a very vital moment and made the viewers feel that
they are personally in that moment. In today’s contemporary society being included is something that
everyone is striving for, and a work of art such as Las Meninas that can capture a moment and make you
feel like a part of it. This is essential because we as humans are social beings. We cannot last long
without any human interaction, which makes the value of family and friends very dear to us.
Additionally, in a more modernized application, having an advertisement for a product campaign that
manages to capture a moment which properly incorporates the elements of art and principles of design
and make its viewers feel like they are part of them can exponentially boost their sales. This is why – in
my opinion -- an artwork like Las Meninas with all of its elements is very important in today’s society.