Was Velázquez' Meninas the
first Cubist painting?
The painting "Cuadro de
Familia", in England commonly called "Conversation
Piece" was renamed "Las
Meninas" (from the Portuguese meninha - a young girl).
Velázquez had the history of
European painting before his eyes
when he painted "Las Meninas";
writers like Lope de Vega, Calderón,
Tirso de Molina, Alarcón, Quevedo,
Góngora and Gracián were his contemporaries. He had visited Italy
which had the most free and modern
way of life to be found in Europe and
his excellent library gives us an idea
of the scope of his thought. The
painting encompasses all the greatness of this world.
This picture shows a simple event in
the daily life of the Royal Palace. But
he holds this moment and makes it
eternal with his genius. His
achievement is like a flash of equilibrium and fullness that overcomes
time. This is poetry. The painter-poet
has captured an instant of Spanish
history; so this "instantánea" has in
addition a documentary value for
history. Everything has been caught in
a fleeting moment. Reality becomes
poetry. But it is poetry filled by
mystery, which still remains. This
was done with light, symbolising the
beginning of life, and air, that both
the personae in the painting and we
ourselves are breathing.
In spite of still being one of the
most powerful nations of Europe
(Philip IV was the King of Spain and
of Portugal) there was no male heir to
the throne, but there was an heiress the Infanta Margarita - and
Velázquez tells us this through a
world of illusion.
This illusion is produced by
showing an instant in its light and
shadow and through considerable but
disguised liberties in his artistic
technique. There are a series of
geometrical figures which, when
unravelled, help us to understand
the relationship between the people
in the painting and its overall
scheme. The painter and the open
door make a rectangle with the Princess and the kneeling maid of honour. There is a semi-circle which
goes from the painter's shoulder to
the kneeling maid of honour, and
then through the Infanta to the inclining maid.
From the front lamp hook on the
ceiling there is a steeper diagonal to
the dog's back paw; and another
from the receding top of the wall on
the left of the painting on the right to
the bottom end of the large canvas.
We also have two inverted triangles; one from the painter's head
to the kneeling maid's head and then
to the Infanta's head and back to
him. The other one is from the courtier's head to the kneeling maid's
head, to the Infanta's head and back
to him again.
In the middle of a cone, and inside an upside-down kite, we have
the looking-glass which reflects the
King and Queen.
Like Goya, Velázquez is deeply
concerned with the expression of
human situations. The painting of
mass has been converted into the
painting of space. In the painting we
are looking at, the King and the
Queen are shown as the patrons.
They are not being painted, nor are
standing in front of the painting;
however, their presence still shines
among all the large paintings at the
back.
We come nearest to experiencing
the 'instante' that Velázquez is aiming at, with the evocative, alive and
breathing portrayal of the Infanta
Margarita.
In the same room in which the
Prince Baltasar Carlos died and with
him the hopes of continuity in the
Habsburg line, a new light and hope
now flourishes. Another symbol of
life and renewal is brought in by the
kneeling maid when she offers the
. Infanta, on a gold plate, a red
terracotta pitcher of water.
Salvador Ortiz-Carboneres
Velázquez’s Meninas. Museo del Prado, Madrid.