Mysteries of painting. Velasquez "Las Meninas"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

There are canvases in the history of painting, the riddles of which descendants have been trying to comprehend for centuries, and which in many ways remain incomprehensible. One of these works is Velazquez's painting Las Meninas. The main mystery of this large-scale canvas, which is the pride of the collection of paintings of the Prado Museum in Madrid, lies in the compositional construction. What do we see when we look at the picture?

In its central part, the five-year-old daughter of the Spanish royal couple, Infanta Margarita, is depicted. The light, fragile figure of a little girl is surrounded by a respectful retinue - maids of honor-menin, who served as the name of the picture, a court dwarf and a jester, a large slumbering, very indifferent dog. All these are important and necessary persons of the retinue of the Spanish royal court, whom Velazquez very truthfully portrayed. "Menins" is a historical picture, even the names of all those depicted on it are known. But this is not the main thing in the canvas. The mystery lies elsewhere. Reversibleattention to the image of the artist himself on the left side, who stands in front of a large easel with brushes and a palette. He is busy with work - he paints a portrait of the royal couple, the image of which can be seen if you look closely and look into the mirror hanging over the head of the infanta. Thus, it turns out that the royal couple is located directly in front of the picture - where the courtiers and Velazquez himself are looking. Las Meninas is a canvas where the picturesque plan is closely intertwined with the real. Indeed, viewers looking at the picture become its direct participants, because they are located next to or behind the royal couple. A similar illusion is also achieved by certain artistic techniques that Velasquez uses. "La Meninas" is painted very precisely and realistically, the play of light and shadow creates volume and depth.

So, the unusual and mysterious composition lies in the fact that it is not the artist who stands in front of the canvas he creates. He is part of the image and draws whoever is standing in front of him. In turn, the one he draws is reflected in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall, and appears, as it were, outside the artistic world, outside the canvas. The viewers looking at the picture are in reality, but they are also part of the artistic plan, illusoryly present at what is happening.

Velázquez often used such a multifaceted "picture in picture" composition. Meninas is a prime example of this. What did the artist want to convey to the viewer? There is still no exact explanation for this.

The mirror image, introduced compositionally into the picture, is a technique that was highly valued in Renaissance painting. Such an accurate, realistic image of the upside-down painting emphasized the degree of skill of the artist.

Perhaps by including himself in the framework of the canvas, the artist wanted to show thereby his dependence, constraint, lack of freedom. He, as a court painter, could only create within the gloomy walls of the royal castle.

What did Diego Velasquez want to say? "Menins" is an artistic creation that has not yet been unraveled. Its secret meaning is the source for many different assumptions and research not only by artists, art critics, but also by historians.