The meninas

Late in his life, in 1656, Velázquez painted what is his acknowledged masterpiece, "Las Meninas" or the "Maids of Honor". Here he provided his own original essay on the nature of reality by fusing several subjects. The group portrait, the "genre" (scenes of everyday life) theme, the self-portrait, the artist in the studio and the interior… have all come together in a new and distinctive form.

"The Maids of Honor" is, in fact, a series of portraits within portraits. It is first a portrait of a room: the artist’s studio…. Gathered in the room are the Infanta Dońa Margarita (born 1651 to Phillip IV…), a pair of attendants, and two dwarfs. Margarita looks out of the picture…. ignoring the tray of refreshments and the artist to her right and the two attendants to her left. Even the young dwarf, who angrily kicks the family dog, has failed to capture her attention. A group portrait has seldom

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

Source: Cole, Bruce and Gealt, Adelaide. They, in fact, may be the subject of a double portrait being painted on the canvas upon which Velázquez shows himself working – the artist in his studio has been woven into the scene.

AESTHETIC QUALITY/ THEORY : Impressionism. Velázquez died only four years later, and Phillip died in 1666. During the years of Phillip’s reign Spain was in decline and after his death France became the leading power of Europe. Here, in a single image, much that was important to Phillip was ingeniously brought together. His family, his retainers (servants), his newly knighted painter, and above all, his beautiful daughter are gathered in the room that belonged to his dead son and heir.

INFLUENCES UPON ARTIST

PERSONAL LIFE: In his arts the artist reflects his own workday: in the mirror on the far wall is the reflection of the King and Queen , which is the theme of the painting he is working on, the Princess is looking at her parents, surrounded by her aids and the loyal family dog near by.

HISTORY: Greater influence on European art than any other artist, especially on the Impressionists.

ART HISTORY VARIABLES ESSENTIAL OR IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS

ARTIST VELAZQUEZ, Diego

DATE 1656

PLACE Madrid

FUNCTION/PURPOSE: Wants to reflect authentic democratic principles, making it a very modern work.

Approximate Word count = 600
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.