The meninas essays

The meninas essays Late in his life, in 1656, Velzquez 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 artists studio.... Gathered in the room are the Infanta Dos space. They, in fact, may be the subject of a double portrait being painted on the canvas upon which Velzquez shows himself working the artist in his studio has been woven into the scene. "Las Meninas" hung in Phillips private office, a sure indication that it was special to him. 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. In an image both charming and melancholy, Velzquez has captured the waning years of the Spanish Hapsburgs. Velzquez died only four years later, and Phillip died in 1666. During the years...