Diego Velázquez, the Spanish painter of the Baroque period whose bold brush strokes, painterly pathology, and realistic scenes changed the course of art forever, would have been 425 years old today. As a court painter, his commissions chronicled the upper echelon of Spanish society—valuable in and of itself as documentary evidence of the ambitions (and delusions) of the circle of King Philip IV. But Velázquez used chiaroscuro to his advantage to depict greater depth in his portraits and, by extension, suggest a richer inner life of his subjects. In the 19th and 20th centuries, John Singer Seargent, Francis Bacon and Pablo Picasso (especially during his “Blue Period”) were inspired by Velázquez—and their subjects often appeared both sinister and vulnerable simultaneously in the dramatic contrasts of light and dark areas of the canvases. Arguably the most important painting of the Spanish Baroque period, which remains as fresh today as when it was painted, is “Las Meninas,” (pictured) the 1656 group portrait that focused on Philip’s daughter, the infant Maragret Theresa, and her entourage including maids of honor (or “ladies in waiting”), chaperones, and two dwarves. The figural representations are impressive, but what makes the painting one for the ages is Velázquez’s clever use of reflection and suggestion to expand our understanding of this room at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid. Velázquez paints himself staring at us (the viewer) while his representation is painting the king and queen, reflected in the mirror behind him. That mirror is positioned next to an open door, in which stands a bodyguard who is also staring at us over the shoulders of Theresa’s entourage, some of whom are engaged with each other and some (including the child) also staring at us. It all unfolds using two-point perspective, but the vanishing point is a foreshortened door that’s angled at 45 degrees, meaning the eye is arrested from perceiving depth and is, instead, bounced back into the room to the figures.
NCPA
