What do you see when you look at this painting? It’s difficult to describe at the first glance isn’t it?

It isn’t a scene of a landscape or of some flowers, it neither describes a scene from history, nor is it a simple portrait. Well, what is this interesting painting, and what distinguishes it from it’s coevals?

Let’s have a look at the background of  this painting. This is one of the major works of  Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 6, 1599 – August 6, 1660), painted in 1656. Velazquez was a successful painter in the court of the King Philip IV of Spain, but painting was accepted as a craft not as art such as poetry or music, therefore he worked hard to serve in other duties in the palace court. In 1651 he was appointed palace chamberlain, and had many heavy duties and not much time to paint. However, Velazquez was able to paint a few works, mostly portraits of the royal family.

The most famous of his works as a painter of royal portraits is this painting named “Las Meninas”. What creates its signnificance is the extra-ordinary composition of characters we find in this painting, which makes it an important turn-point in art theory. At the time it was painted it set an inconvenient example of art. Let’s see how this is so:

At a first look we see a little girl at the center of the scene, the Infanta Margarita is the daughter of the King Philip IV. The Infanta Margarita is surrounded by her entourage, maids of honour (Las Meninas) besides the infanta, two dwarfs and a dog at the front, and behind the Infanta’s maid to the right stand the Infanta’s chaperone and a bodyguard. To the left of the Infanta we see Velazquez the painter himself, and at the rear wall we see a mirror reflecting the King and Queen standing side by side as if they were posing for their portrait to be painted. Finally we see a man who is standing at the doorway, he is the queen’s chamberlain and is probably checking out what is going on in this chamber.

Now we know who is who in this painting, if we observe the interactions between the figures we can see that there are a lot of things going on.

1. Let’s start with the mirror that reflects the King and Queen who are looking towards us. Almost everybody in the scene are focused on the royal couple whose presence in the painting is missing. It seems that this painting was actually supposed to be a portrait of the royal couple. However, it turned out to be a painting depicting the royal couple being painted. The royal couple (objects of the painting) have been left out on purpose, and they are watching this scene through their own reflection. How did Velazquez come up with a plot such as this, I wonder?

2. The Infanta Margarita is at the center staring at us with her head turned to her left with a dignified look, too dignified actually for a little child. She is at the center of attention according to the depicted scene, it is as if she were posing for her own portrait, however she is not actually what this portrait is about. She seems to be watching us instead of her parents being portrayed.

3. The two maids of the Infanta (Las Meninas as in the title of this painting), on her left and right are leaning over towards the Infanta. The maid on the Infanta’s left takes a slight glance at the missing King and Queen. Their primary interest is not in who is being painted, they are carrying out their duty, to assist the Infanta.  They seem to notice us, but still go on with their duty, and do what they have been told.

4. The two dwarves at the front seem detached from the Infanta, one of them is staring straight at us out of curiosity wondering “what will happen next”, and the other is trying to catch the dog’s attention. They look like they are after some kind of mischief.

5. The Infanta’s chaperone and bodyguard seem to be talking to each other, maybe gossipping while taking place in the crowd. This doesn’t seem to be an appropriate thing to do in front of royalty. The Infanta and her maids, the two dwarves, the chaperone and the bodyguard all show an informal presence. Maybe Velasquez was trying to display the true characters of the royal entourage, we cannot know.

6. On the left Velazquez is working on a large painting, nearly twice his height, and he has taken a few steps back to take a good look at what / who he is depicting. As we know the King & Queen have been left out of the painting. We are standing where they were supposed to be. Is Velasquez painting a portrait of us? Could it be that we have become the objects / models of this painting? Instead of being an observer of a famous painting, the characters are actually observing us. We have become objects instead of subjects.

7. And finally the chamberlain is looking down through the doorway. He is passing by and spontaneously taking a glance at this scene. He doesn’t belong in the crowd. It is as though he wants to have control over what is happening from a distance, a distance that is neither too close to be present, nor too far to be ineffective. Something in the scene might happen that can get out of control, and he is there to fix it. He displays the omnipotent presence, the “gaze”, he is always and never there.

The power in visual interaction

Are we the real subjects experiencing this painting? Our power as observer or as being a subject has been thrown off course. We think we are observing a portrait, however we have replaced the King and Queen of Spain (the icons of power of the period) and have become objectified by the characters in the painting.

Michel Foucult begins his book “The Order of Things: An archaeology of the human sciences” with an interpretation of Las Meninas, where he investigates the visual structure of this painting, without considering the historical context. He simply analyzes the positionings of the characters. 

Relevant to what I have mentioned previously, Velazquez has left no space for any “visitor” to intervene in the scene. Therefore, any observer, who stands before the painting, experiences a dis-positioning of his / her own subject. Within this context, Foucult observes that:

As we now know that the author (Velazquez), model (King & Queen), observer (us – subject), and the visitor (the chamberlain) have all been dis-positioned. All have been deprived of their power to experience the expected outcome; to be portrayed, to paint, to observe, to visit…

Who is really in control of this scene? Actually no one. Not Velazquez, he is trapped in his own scene; Not the King & Queen; their reflection says more than themselves; Not the Infanta, the dwarves or the chaperone or bodyguard…  Even the chamberlain who is “passing by” does not have control. He maybe seeking control, but if he did actually have control, he wouldn’t need to pass by. Maybe the Maids of Honour have control over the scene, since they are applying their duties and the painting is named after them? Who knows…

Experiencing this painting means asking the question am I the subject (observer) of my experiences, or have I become the object?  And this question has set a primary discourse in art theory. Aren’t we still asking the same question?