Las Meninas-are we looking or being looked at?
Who is looking who in the painting Las Meninas?
Isn't it obvious, we the observers of art are looking at the painting. However, with this particular one, it is not all that straightforward. The painting Las Meninas painted by the hispanic painter Diego Velasquez shows a portray of the spanish royal family. Or... could we be so sure about the theme?
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 6, 1599 – August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV, and one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period.
Maybe there are few more layers of meaning and tricks that painter used to make a rather confusing painting for the art historians.
Firstly, Diego Velasquez was a royal painter in the court of King Philipp IV and this is the only portrait of the royal family although Wikipedia states that it isn't?? I suggest you go look yourself but I didn't find any. Already this is kind of interesting.
Secondly, why is he portrayed in the painting, and what is he painting. We can't see that because he made it invisible to the public. His gaze slightly glimpses the young lady but does not stay intact but it moves on into to imaginary space, into the space where the observer will one day appear. This veil of mystery makes this painting so intriguing.
Furthermore, what is the actual theme of the work. The title clearly states Las Meninas which translates to young entourage. But if we look more closely we can see that in the background of the royal salon, or room (whatever) is a mirror. All the others paintings on the wall are covered in darkness but the light shines upon this mirror which shows the royal couple which is in the background of the space of the room portrayed. Therefore, this raises question what is the actual theme.
The light is our guide as it unveils the secrets hidden in the darkness and shines upon the objects of value and importance. Velasquez was aware of this and uses light to guide us to deeper layers of the meaning in this painting.
The ideas of the many layer of meaning were taken from the book written by M. Foucalut „Order of things.“
P.S.
If you want to look at the paining in maximal quality and don't have the time to go to Prado museum I suggest visiting Wikipedia, they have a rather large image of this painting, app. 250 MB so you could go for the details.
Stay well.
copyright: public domain
Links of photos:
https://www.wikiart.org/en/diego-velazquez/las-meninas-detail-of-the-lower-half-depicting-the-family-of-philip-iv-of-spain-1656
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