LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Meninas: Las Meninas
built 654 days ago
Las Meninas has long been recognised as one of the most important paintings in Western art history. The Baroque painter Luca Giordano said that it represents the "theology of painting", while in the 19th century Sir Thomas Lawrence called the work "the philosophy of art". More recently, it has been described as "Velázquez's supreme achievement, a highly self-conscious, calculated demonstration of what painting could achieve, and perhaps the most searching comment ever made on the possibilities of the easel painting".[4]
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Las Meninas has been interpreted as "a candid representation of an actual event" and a highly structured composition with visual and intellectual subtleties. It is an extraordinary portrait of the royal family from 1656, which includes a self-portrait of their official painter. Diego Velázquez was court painter to Philip IV of Spain from 1623 until his death in 1660. His primary responsibility was to document the royal family. In recognition of his achievements, he was made a knight of the Order of Santiago in 1659.
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Many aspects of Las Meninas relate to earlier works by Velázquez in which he plays with conventions of representation. In the Rokeby Venus—his only surviving nude—the face of the subject is visible, blurred beyond any realism, in a mirror. The angle of the mirror is such that although "often described as looking at herself, [she] is more disconcertingly looking at us".[55] In the early Christ in the House of Martha and Mary of 1618,[56] Christ and his companions are seen only through a serving hatch to a room behind, according to the National Gallery (London), who are clear that this is the intention, although before restoration many art historians regarded this scene as either a painting hanging on the wall in the main scene, or a reflection in a mirror, and the debate has continued.[57] [58]The dress worn in the two scenes ... differs: the main scene is in contemporary dress, while the scene with Christ uses conventional iconographic biblical dress. This is also a feature of Los Borrachos of 1629, where contemporary peasants consort with the god Bacchus and his companions, who have the conventional undress of mythology. In this, as in some of his early bodegones, the figures look directly at the viewer as if seeking a reaction.
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Las Meninas (... known as The Maids of Honour) is a painting by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. Completed in 1656, and housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain, the work is one of the world's most famous paintings. Luca Giordano said of Las Meninas that it represented the "theology of painting", while Sir Thomas Lawrence wrote that the work incarnates the philosophy of art.[1]
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"Las Meninas" is a virtual reality artwork created for the CAVE. The painting of the same title, 'Las Meninas' or 'The Maids of Honor' (1656), by the great Spanish painter Diego Velazquez, challenges the viewer with its allegorical subject matter and enigmatic mise-en-scene. From the outset the viewer confronts the artist's canvas which is forever hidden from view.
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Las Meninas (... known as The Maids of Honour), painted in 1656, is a work by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. It is one of the most famous paintings in the world, and is in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Luca Giordano said of Las Meninas that it was, itself, the "theology of painting"; Sir Thomas Lawrence, that it incarnates the philosophy of art.
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Las Meninas