ART MATTERS Part I

by Roel Sibayan 

"Las Meninas" 1656 oil painting by: Diego Velazquez



Considering the 1656 master piece of Diego Velazquez “Las Meninas” provides many questions such  as - who is the real main subject of the painting?, is it the King and his wife, the eldest daughter Margaret Theresa or the painter himself? But looking on a different perspective will give another prospective answer to this question.  First, I would like to take into considerations that the painter used a mirror as clearly mentioned. The painting itself is only a reflection of the mirror from the eye view of Velazquez. If the painting shows that Velazquez is on the left side, and the maid of honours is on the right side, this means the original positioning of painter is on the right side if we are facing opposite to the mirror. But I don’t want to set aside the possibility that the painter also used a camera obscura to capture the very moment of the seen on the painting before he paints it, because the camera obscura already exist during the seventeen to eighteen century. In my analysis, an artist cannot paint the moving subjects such as the princess with the maid of honours. It is impossible to paint the moving subjects in one sitting, most especially if it is a multiple subjects, and at the same time, I don’t want to set aside the possibility that King Philip IV and his wife’s image on the background is not a mirror, but a painting as well. A strong light source coming on the viewer’s front view and right side view, since there is no artificial light on the ceiling, it seems like there is another door from the back of the other maid of honour who tries to play with her left feet with the dog. The person to the right rear standing is Don Jose Nieto Velazquez, in my belief that he already went inside and was about to come out as he already stepped up his right feet, and holds the curtain that blocks his way, because there is no need to hold the curtain if he is already inside the room or studio

The entire painting tells me that during those time, Diego Velazquez is much close to the royal people or family, it seems like the artist painter occupies a special position on the hierarchy starting from the King and Queen, the princess, and the maid of honours, all the way to the lower rank individuals. Beside on being the personal artist of the family, he works on the big room or studio within the facility of the King and Queen’s place in Madrid. In my speculation, there is an important function to be presided by the King and Queen, their daughter is on a preparation and being assisted by their maid of honours. The royal family wants to document or put the very important event on record, by converting it to a painting creates high value on the piece.

Foucault pointed out, that what is outside of the painting gives meaning to what is inside, therefore, the King and Queen according to him are the center of the scene as the entire representation is ordered. Foucault’s analysis probably true, in the study of the elements of composition, it is also important to determine the balance, in between the subject or object is a space that determines the distance between each other. With regards the Las Meninas painting, in my point-of-view, the three primary subjects as one category are in the center; King Philip IV, the Queen, the Princess, and Don Jose Nieto Velazquez whose about to come out holding the curtain, the three of them has three different specific areas, the King and Queen are in the mirror or “painting” with black frame, Don Jose Nieto Velazquez is at the center of the door frame, and the princess is surrounded by her maid of honours. Three different positions, but occupying the same positioning in the entire painting, which is the center of the composition.