Baroque Art Blog
Las Meninas artist Diego Velazquez , oil painting on canvas
Diego Velazquez was born June 6th, 1599, in Seville, Spain and died August 6th, 1660. Diego became an apprentice to Francisco Pacheco at age 11. In 1642, he became the new royal painter for King Phillip IV. Interesting fact about the painting is that the little girl in the center of the painting is the 5 year old Infanta Margarita of Spain, the most recent heir to King Phillip IV. A decade earlier, the king had lost his only son and his first wife. This child was proof of the fertility of his new bride Mariana of Austria, who also was his niece (gross). They married when King Phillip IV was 51 and she was 15 (also gross). The two girls around Infanta Margarita are two meninas attending the princess; the one on her knees was Maria Agustina Sarmiento and was offering the princess a drink. The man standing in front of the canvas holding a brush is none other than Velazquez himself, which I thought was pretty cool. The mirror on the back wall reflects the figures of monarchs Phillip IV and Mariana of Austria. This painting is definitely influenced by royalty as it was of the King Phillip's daughter.
The first art element I noticed was Value, Baroque artist largely gave up the Renaissance convention of centralizing a single subject in light. Diego uses multiple light sources four in total to focus your attention there. The different values in this painting create mass amount of contrasts. The girl in the middle of the painting is painted with much lighter value compared to the background of the painting which is why she stands out. The second art element I noticed is the use of color. The color pallet of this painting is limited. Diego uses mainly greys, but uses small amounts of other colors like red and blue in the details of the little girl's dress and other things. This technique really ties the painting together. The third art element I noticed was the use of texture. Diego Velazquez uses different brush strokes to create different textures and details. Without this technique, the painting wouldn't look so realistic. This painting can be found at the Museo Nacional del Prado. At first when I saw the painting I didn't think I would want this, but after learning more about it I am now intrigued. The back story of it was just cool to me. Also, the fact that Velazquez painted himself in it is literally so cool to me (haha).
Velazquez , Diego. “Las Meninas - The Collection.” The Collection - Museo Nacional Del Prado, Museo Nacional Del Prado, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/las-meninas/9fdc7800-9ade-48b0-ab8b-edee94ea877f.
https://mymodernmet.com/diego-velazquez-las-meninas/
Shovava. “The History and Mystery of 'Las Meninas' by Diego Velázquez.” My Modern Met, 4 Mar. 2022, https://mymodernmet.com/diego-velazquez-las-meninas/.
Kody,
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing the details behind this painting's story; it's always interesting to learn about the context behind different works of art. I enjoyed reading through your observations, especially since you referenced the art elements that we learned about at the beginning of the semester. I agree that Valezquez's use of shadow and value in this painting is brilliant, and represents the Baroque era well. And, I think this is the first painting I've seen in this class that includes a dog, and even he looks royal.
I like your choice, The clothing is magnificent, I have always told my family that I would have wanted to live way back then because of the clothing, dresses and just freedom feeling and wearing whatever you choose. They look like they can just be themselves and everyone is okay with it, that's awesome. They use the natural light like a spotlight. Great post Kody!
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