This painting by Diego Velázquez called Las Meninas,
or The Maids of Honor, hangs in the Prado in Madrid.
It features the Infanta Margarita Teresa in the center,
surrounded by two ladies-in-waiting—the titular meninas—
as well as a whole cast of characters, including the painter himself.
Over three and a half centuries after its completion,
it’s widely regarded as one of the most important paintings in Western art history.
Numerous books and articles have been written about it.
In the August 1985 issue of Illustrated London News, artists and critics voted it the world’s greatest painting.
Michel Foucault devoted the first chapter of "The Order of Things" to Las Meninas.
It's been called an optical illusion and a time machine.
But what is it about this painting that makes it so interesting?
Through the 36 years he worked for King Philip IV,
Velázquez produced dozens of paintings of the Spanish royal family.
By some counts, he made 34 paintings of the king alone.
In addition, he also painted soldiers and knights, fools and jesters, clergy and poets.
But his magnum opus—his greatest masterpiece—is Las Meninas.
Painted sometime in 1656, the ten-and-a-half by nine foot image
has been a talking point for over three centuries.
At first glance, it bucks the trend of royal portraiture.
The painting appears more like a snapshot of daily life than a typical visage of royals posing to be painted.
We know that the setting is the artist’s own studio in the Royal Alcázar of Madrid
and we know nearly everyone in the image.
We even know that the two paintings looming large above the figures are replicas
of Peter Paul Rubens’ depictions of Ovid’s Metamorphosis:
Pallas and Arachne on the left, Apollo as victor over Pan on the right.
But it’s not what we know that makes this painting so intriguing; it’s what we don’t know.
For one, there’s this mirror in the back that depicts King Philip IV and Queen Mariana.
We’re not really sure what the mirror in the back—if it even is a mirror—is actually reflecting.
Scholars don’t know whether it’s a reflection of the couple standing before them,
a reflection of the canvas upon which Velázquez is painting,
or another picture.
The mirror echoes Velazquez’s early works,
namely Kitchen Scene with the Supper in Emmaus
and The Christ in the House of Mary and Martha.
Again, we’re not entirely sure if the inset images are mirrors, portraits, or even windows into other rooms.
But that leads us to our next question:
who is the viewer?
Yes, we as observers are viewing the painting,
but the reflection in the mirror insinuates that the king and queen are the subjects of the painting that Velazquez is actively working at
and we are looking at the scene as if we are Philip and Mariana.
Art historians have likened this to time travel.
The large size of the painting, the high ceilings, and the gaze of the subjects
allows us to step back into the 17th century as if we’re actually there observing the courtiers
and they’re observing us.
So what, exactly, is Velazquez working on within the painting?
Some have speculated that if the mirror in the back is actually a portrait,
then Velazquez was painting what he saw through a very large mirror in his studio.
Aside from the clues we’ve received from the mirror-slash-portrait in the back,
scholars have also noted that the conspicuously large canvas seems to be the same size as Las Meninas itself.
It lends credence to the idea that perhaps it is a large mirror that he’s looking at.
Compounded with the fact that no portrait exists of the king and queen as portrayed by the image in the back
we’re led to believe that Velazquez is, in fact, painting Las Meninas itself.
The painting also invites us to ask some questions about the subjects.
Why are they in this room and why are they doing what they’re doing?
If the artist is at work, why is the princess there with her maidens Doña Isabel de Velasco
and Doña María Agustina Sarmiento de Sotomayor?
Were they brought into the room to entertain the king and queen as they sat for a portrait?
The two people to the right of the trio are the dwarves Maribarbola and Nicolas Pertusato
respected members of the royal court.
Velazquez depicts them in a more dignified manner than his peers of the period,
who tended to depict dwarves as less respectable and noble.
In this way, Velazquez conveys the message that Barbola and Nicolasito are just as important as other attendants to the royals.
Directly behind them are a nun, the princess’s chaperone by the name of Doña Marcela de Ulloa,
who is speaking with an unnamed bodyguard, whose face appears dark and smeared.
This was actually due to a fire that destroyed the Royal Alcázar in 1734 and damaged the painting.
Parts of the image were restored,
though the left and right sides of the painting were cut down to preserve it.
José Nieto Velázquez, the queen’s chamberlain, stands on the stairs in the back.
Notably, he stands at the vanishing point of the painting—
the point at which all lines converge, such as on the horizon.
Some have used this fact to argue that he is the actual focal point of the painting.
He’s also depicted as having been moving and now stands in pause,
but was he entering or exiting?
Historian Joel Snyder noted that as the queen’s attendant, Nieto held open doors for the queen as she entered and exited rooms.
This adds to the mystery:
is he beckoning the princess and the attendants to exit the room while holding the curtain open,
is he there to summon the queen,
or is there some other reason he might be there?
Then there are the mysterious red objects.
Doña Sotomayor offers the princess a red clay vessel known as a búcaro.
Originating in Central America, they were common in the 17th century,
perfuming any liquids contained within and known to be eaten for various benefits, including lightening of the skin.
We can see in later paintings of Margarita Teresa that she was very fair skinned, offering clues as to the purpose of the bucaro.
We come to the painter himself now.
He holds a brush and palette that contains the colors used in Las Meninas, offering another clue as to what he’s painting.
But the most interesting thing about his self-portrait is this bright red cross,
a symbol of knighthood through the Order of Santiago.
The painting is widely believed to have been completed in 1656,
but Velázquez was not accepted into knighthood until 1659.
This has thrown into question the true completion date of the painting.
An 18th century art historian named Antonio Palomino wrote about the painting after having interviewed several people within the image.
He said that the king commanded for a cross to be added at a later date, after the appointment of Velázquez to knighthood.
Some have suggested King Philip painted the red cross himself.
Many believe that Velázquez actually painted the cross in a campaign to achieve knighthood.
Modern art historian Jonathan Brown suggests that while Velázquez painted the cross, he did so after his knighthood,
and dates the actual painting of Las Meninas to a four month period between late 1659 and early 1660.
A lot of questions surround Las Meninas, but one thing that’s undeniable is its influence in the art world.
Numerous artists have reinterpreted the painting in their own style.
Pablo Picasso painted 58 interpretations of it.
Salvador Dali created multiple versions of his own.
Francisco Goya made an etching.
Photographer Joel-Peter Witkin recreated the scene and called it Las Meninas, New Mexico.
The style of the painting has been emulated, as well.
We see this in Sir John Lavery’s The Royal Family at Buckingham Palace,
John Singer Sargent’s The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit,
and Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo’s paintings of subjects from the original.
As long as people continue to talk about it and artists look to it for inspiration,
the legacy of Velázquez’s Las Meninas will last for centuries more.
Thank you for falling down that rabbit hole with me.
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