Las Meninas

This famous work resides at Museo del Prado in Madrid. It is Velazquez' most celebrated painting and one of the most interesting pictures I have seen. It's not simply the scale (it is huge) or the impressive technique, with chiaroscuro adapted from Caravaggio, following a trip to Rome by the artist. What lifts it above the average work of genius, for me, is the multiplicity of layers of meaning. First, consider time: the picture has the appearance of a snapshot, with the children in motion, yet we know this to be impossible. Secondly, this very `snapshot' view conveys a sense of informality, but we are looking at members of the Royal Family, the artist's employers, placed there by the Almighty himself, according to the views of the time. Then, in case we missed these points, Velazquez very carefully places himself right in the midst of the scene, looking straight at us. This is unparalleled in royal portraiture - the artist daring to place himself so prominently in view. Clearly, his relationship with his subjects, whose subject he was, was very intimate and trusting, established over decades in the royal household. But this also adds to the surreal quality of the picture: just who is the subject of this picture? The answer is surprising, amusing and more than a little subversive: it seems that "We" are; that's both the "Royal We", Philip IV and his second wife, Mariana and the common "we", the viewers - or should it be voyeurs, to witness such an intimate scene? Look closely and you can see the vaguest of reflections of the royal couple in the mirror on the far wall of the room. Or are "We"? Certainly, that's implied by where the artist, as subject, has portrayed himself and his canvas. On the other hand, he must actually have been where we are in order to paint the picture. Maybe the real subject of the work is the eye of the beholder - or the eye of the artist? In summary, you can see this work as an arrogant, self-mocking statement about the act of painting, disguised as a self-portrait, of an extremely daring type, masquerading as a family snap...