Diego Velázquez
Grade Level: 5th
Month: October
Artist Overview: Spanish, 1599–1660
Works of Art:
Las Meninas [The Maids of Honor], 1656
Lesson Time: 30–35 minutes
Lesson Materials: Diego Velázquez book by Mike Venezia
Activity Time: 10 minutes
Activity Materials: Las Meninas reproductions
Objectives: To introduce artist Diego Velázquez and Hispanic Heritage Month
Lesson:
1. Introduce self and Talking Canvas program. Introduce October as Hispanic Heritage
Month, when we celebrate the contributions and culture of Spanish-speaking people
from Latin America. What does Hispanic mean? [a person or thing of Latin American
descent, living in the U.S.] What is Heritage? [tradition by natural situation or birth]
Today we are going to look at the work of a famous Spanish artist from the Baroque
period, Diego Velázquez. He is not from Latin America, but the Spanish explored and
settled in Latin America, bringing the Spanish language with them. Velázquez was
born in Seville, Spain, in 1599: 107 years after Christopher Columbus left that city to
sail to the Americas.
2. [Show print] The 17th century marked a golden age of painting in Spain, and Diego
Veázquez was its crown jewel. Little is known about his childhood but he was such a
good artist as at age 11 his parents sent him to study with the best painters in
Seville.
3. Read Venezia book pp. 11 (point out woman cooking eggs), then read 12–27.
Read Venezia book pp. 5–7.
Velázquez’s most famous painting is Las Meninas, which means “The Maids of
Honor.” Some art experts have called it the greatest of all paintings. He painted it
around 1656, and it is 10½ feet high by 9 feet wide! We’re going to take a close look at
that painting today. [Hand out individual reproductions so all can look closely.]
Read Venezia book p. 32. Optional add:
Velázquez’s work was out of fashion for generations until the French painter
Edouard Manet hailed him as “the painter of painters” in the mid-1800s.
4. Show print and ask questions:
a. What is happening in this picture? (paraphrase students’ responses)
b. What makes you say that? (point to specifics)
c. What else can we find? (call on others and draw comparisons and contrasts
among the students’ comments)
Repeat a–c until most have contributed. Prompts and additional discussion:
d. Thinking about the title, who or what are the “maids of honor”? What do
you know about life in the royal court? (see presenter notes on attachment)
[Las Meninas (in Spanish) are the Queen’s personal attendants. They were young
girls from aristocratic families who were brought up to serve at court but were not
royalty themselves. Here, they flank the little girl, who is the 5-year-old Spanish
princess known as the Infanta Margarita]
e. Who or what is the main focal point, or focus of attention, in this painting?
[the Infanta Margarita, surrounded by the everyday bustle of courtiers and servants,
and the artist himself. She appears not to want to pose for her portrait, despite the
pleadings of the maids of honor. OR she may have been brought into the room to
amuse and please her parents who were having their portrait painted. OR the royal
couple may be finished with their portrait sitting, and the maids of honor curtsy to
the princess while the chamberlain holds the curtain open in the back of the room,
for the king and queen to exit. No one knows for sure.]
f. Study the faces of the people in the painting—many of them are looking
out of the picture at something. What are they looking at? What effect does
that have on the viewer of this picture?
[the answer may be found in the mirror on the back wall—the king and queen. The
king resisted being painted as he grew older, so the artist cleverly found this way of
including them in this casual scene, creating a portrait not just of the princess but
of her parents too. The effect on the viewer may be to make them feel they are part
of the painting, even the subject of the portrait!]
g. Look for touches of red across the picture. Where can you find red?
[red cup being offered to the princess on a golden tray; red curtain seen in mirror,
under which the King and Queen appear; a midget dressed in red trying to wake
sleeping dog with his foot; red cross on the artist’s black tunic is the red cross of St.
James, the emblem of the Order of Santiago. Velazquez painted this picture in 1656
but was not knighted into this order until 1659, so it was painted in later. ]
5. Optional Activity : Have students refer to the reproductions
of Las Meninas, looking closely at the man in the doorway in
the back of the painting. Ask them to vote (by show of hands)
whether they think the man is entering or leaving the room.
Then have them pair up with someone who thinks the opposite
and take turns explaining why they think the way they do.
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, c. 1656, oil on canvas, 316 x 276 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain, image © Bridgeman Art
Library International Ltd.
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas Additional Notes for the Presenter
You could spend the whole school year just studying this one painting and still not have
definitive answers, but students love unraveling bits of the mystery themselves. Be flexible
about whether they are able to crowd close to the picture, whether you actually read from the
book or just summarize, etc. Remember you want to get them talking with each other, with
you mostly moderating and validating their contributions. Here are potentially helpful points:
* Life in the court in the 17th century: King and queen and their children live there, along
with certain noble and aristocratic families, and certain employees who serve those in the
court. Jesters, musicians, chefs, maids, valets, and all types of servants took care of
everything they needed. Velazquez was the ONLY artist allowed to paint the king, and he
spent most of his career doing that.
* This scene, and all of the characters in it, are REAL people in the court of King Philip IV of
Spain. They have all been clearly identified, but what is going on in this scene remains a
mystery with much speculation! There are many theories, but no one knows for sure.
* Setting: the artist's studio within the royal palace in Madrid
* Focal point: little girl, 5-year-old princess, the Infanta Margarita [note: her dress is ornate
and fancy but not uncommon for a princess in that time--in other words, it's not a theatrical
costume, but COULD be extra nice for posing for a portrait...]
* She is attended by two ladies-in-waiting (or meninas): one who appears poised to curtsy to
the princess, and one who kneels before Margarita, offering her a drink from a red cup that
she holds on a golden tray, although also possibly whispering to her.
* To OUR right are a dwarf and a midget with his foot on a dog. These people, like court
jesters, would likely have been part of the court to entertain and befriend the princess
* re: the dog, ask about his expression. Historically it is supposed to be sleepy, we think.
* on the far left is a large canvas, being painted by the artist himself (who is holding a
paintbrush and palette--hard to see clearly). But WHAT or WHOM is he painting? This
provides lots of good discussion.
* there are several paintings on the walls in the rear of the scene, but one that shines more
brightly. Is that because it is a mirror? Perhaps. [note: classes may split on this.] If it IS a
mirror, the King and Queen are being reflected, which means THEY are having their
portrait painted by Velazquez and are positioned right about where WE, the VIEWERS are.
That puts US in the position of the king and may explain why so many of the figures are
looking out of the canvas at US.
* So is the Infanta/princess there because she is supposed to be having her portrait painted,
too, with her mom and dad? Or was she brought into the room (along with her entourage)
to make her parents happy? Because sitting for a portrait can be long and boring... Or is
something else going on?
* And what does it say that the artist put himself in the picture? Perhaps that he feels he
BELONGS there, among the court. He had risen to a position of prominence as THE painter
of the royals, and the cross on his chest (which was added in, three years AFTER this
painting was completed) indicates his membership in a special order of the king—like being
knighted—the Order of Santiago.
* The people behind the princess include the princess's chaperone (dressed in mourning), and
an unidentified bodyguard. Way in the back, standing in the doorway, is the queen's
chamberlain. We are uncertain whether he is coming or going. Part of his job would have
been to open and close doors for the queen, so it is possible that the royal couple are getting
ready to END their portrait sitting session and leave the room, which also may explain why
the menina on the right looks like she's beginning to curtsy. Just one theory.