Las Meninas

Las Meninas

When looking at Las Meninas, your first glance is at the little girl in the center of the painting, she is the only most lighted object in the painting which shows her importance to Spain as she is the future queen. The next thing that catches the viewer's eye is the painter, Velazquez himself, who takes up the whole left side of the painting. He is painting something on a large canvas, we just don't know what, and that is what he wants us to wonder, "What are he painting and what is his purpose in doing this?"

The next most obvious thing is the odd in the back of the room portraying the King and Queen of Spain which gives us the feel that they are present but not insight.

Which Velazquez may use to suggest that the King and Queen are present in everything that happens but does not always have to be the center of attention. Another interesting article of the painting is the dog, which looks to be a guard dog, but is calmed by the touch of one of the friendly servants.

This painting is full of mysterious observations that one could go on and on tr ying to analyze. But the main idea is that this was Velazquez's last painting and he wanted it to mean something. He wanted us to know his thoughts on the influence of the King and Queen of Spain, and his hopes for the future.

Works Cited

Pg.112 Rosenwasser, David and Stephen, Jill. Writing Analytically. New York, New York. Heinle, 2002.