Mosaic International Institute’s Blog

Las Meninas is a painting created by the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez. I would say that about 9 out of every 10 Spaniards, maybe even 10 out of 10, could recognize the painting. Needless to say it is very popular. Las Meninas is the symbol of Spanish art.

A little background: Velazquez was the official painter for the high court. He painted the royal family often. He was Jewish which at this time in Spain meant death, conversion or exile. Because the king was so fond of Velazquez and did not want to lose his service, he made him a member of the order of St. James. This made him untouchable. So, during the inquisition he worked for the king as painter even though he was a Jew.

The composition of the painting is very interesting. Some have called it “the painting that doesn’t exist.” This is because if you look closely, you don’t know what is being painted. It is a painting of the act of painting. Velazquez himself is in the painting. He is the figure on the left in black with the cross of St. James on his chest. In the background you can see what should be a mirror. In the mirror is the image of the king and queen. The viewer is to presume that Velazquez is painting the king and queen. Then on the right there is little infanta surrounded by her little “monsters” as they were called. This is to show the contrast between the beauty of the infanta and the “ugliness” of the dwarves.
Now, I am not sure that many Spaniards know that much about the painting, but they are very familiar with it. Because it is such an icon for Spain, it is widely reproduced. It was redone by many artists over the years, and now it has been redone by El Cortes Ingles in their new ad campaign. Check it out! Velazquez has been replaced by a photgrapher and la infanta is now a model. Very interesting….