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"Las Meninas", Diego Velasquez's portrait
of a Spanish princess and her entourage

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is one of (if not THE) most widely
discussed painting in Western Art.

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Every viewing raises more questions

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and every answer is followed
by a dense network of meanings.

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It is not only a high point
of realism in painting,

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a perfect lifelike depiction
of the Spanish Court,

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it is also a complex meditation
on painting itself.

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It is a spellbinding work

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that is concerned 
with how we view a painting,

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and how the subjects
in a painting view us.

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Velasquez was 57 years old
when he painted this,

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and had been the court painter
for over 30 years.

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But in this painting
— for the first time —

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he includes himself among the courtiers,

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painting a monumental canvas
10 and 1/2 feet tall by 9 feet wide,

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the same size as the actual painting
that the painted canvas is shown within.

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But who is he painting?

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The infanta? 
The king and queen of Spain?

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Or is he painting you, looking at him?

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Early in his career, Velasquez produced

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several of these "kitchen" 
or "tavern" scenes,

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known in Spanish as "bodegones".

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They showed ordinary people
in ordinary settings,

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often with hidden allegorical meaning.

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When he was just 18, 
he painted this extraordinary work,

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which shows a precocious talent

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for capturing the everyday moment

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and clearly shows his immense skill

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in depicting different
materials and textures,

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as well as his mastery of light and shadow

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on both opaque and reflective 
surfaces.

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The detail of the eggs 
frying in hot oil is a masterclass.

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This painting which was probably
painted to show off his skills,

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became his calling card 
to the Royal Palace.

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Here, the water dripping down the jug

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demonstrates his astonishing ability

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to create an almost photographic reality.

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Common people were always
treated with dignity by the artist

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and his early paintings not only showed

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a supremely confident
technique and attention to detail,

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he gave workers
a gravitas in his paintings.

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Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez
was born in 1599 in Seville,

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to a family with plenty of intellect
but little financial means.

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Precocious talented, 
he began a six-year apprenticeship

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when 
he was 12 years old,

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with the painter Francisco Pacheco,

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learning classical techniques of painting.

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But the young artist quickly moved away
from Pacheco's old-fashioned stiff style,

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towards a new dramatic naturalism

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inspired by Caravaggio and his followers.

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There is no evidence he saw
Caravaggio's work in person,

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but he knew the work of Pieter Aertsen,
a Dutch painter

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accredited with the invention
of the monumental genre scene,

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which combines still life 
and genre painting,

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and often includes 
a biblical scene in the background,

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almost like a split screen effect.

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Velasquez painted several 
of these types of scenes,

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and he is clearly already
experimenting with illusion,

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with the picture within a picture,

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something he will perfect later
in Las Meninas.

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In 1623, two years after Philip IV

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came to the throne in Spain 
at the age of 16,

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Velasquez, who was already being 
talked about in the right circles,

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was summoned to Madrid 
to paint a portrait of the king

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which we think is this one.

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It was an immediate success

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and he was pronounced 
official painter to the king on the spot,

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with a promise that no one else should
portray the king without his permission,

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a remarkable achievement
for such a young man,

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and one which awakened jealousy
from the other court painters.

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Philipe IV of Spain and Velasquez 
were linked together

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like no other patronage in Art History.

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He first painted him at the age of 24

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and 33 years later

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this painting would 
be his last of the king.

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Their relationship was unusually close
for a monarch and his painter,

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and the king often came to Velasquez

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while he was painting in his workshop
— just for a quick chat.

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It has been said

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that the principal motivating force
in Velasquez's life,

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was the desire to be a nobleman,

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and he would remain
attached to the court

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for the rest of his life,

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where step by step he would ascend

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through the hierarchy
of court appointments,

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working his way up to a knighthood,

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and he used Las Maninas to prove 
that he should be considered as a noble.

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At the same time 
he is painting his masterpiece,

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a committee are deciding

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whether he can be made a knight
of the order of Santiago,

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in other words be ennobled.

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There is a reason he has put himself
in one of his paintings for the first time

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— on an equal footing
with Spanish royalty.

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It is so important to understand

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that a painter in 17th century 
Spain and elsewhere,

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was considered as just another
crafts person, like a carpenter,

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in other words, a manual worker.

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And like most most court painters
he had many other jobs.

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Velasquez was also 
the "Royal Chamberlain",

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a job that involved 
looking after the palace,

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buying firewood, 
bedding, and crockery.

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He had a key to every room in the palace

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and we can see here,
hanging from the painters belt,

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the symbolic keys
of his court offices

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of which he was inordinately proud.

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He was also the curator
of the king's galleries,

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responsible for negotiating 
the purchase of hundreds of works.

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In fact, almost every Titian
you see today in the Prado,

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was bought by Velasquez, 
on trips to Italy.

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The artist had a long life,

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but only produced 
between 110 and 120 known canvases.

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He produced no etchings or engravings

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and only a few drawings 
are attributed to him.

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This all ties into his two enormous,
but mutually exclusive, ambitions.

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He wanted to be seen

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as the greatest painter 
of the Spanish court

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but he also wanted to go down
in History as a great gentleman.

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The problem was that throughout
his time in the palace,

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his close friendship with the king

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meant he had 
his enemies in the court,

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who were determined 
to stop his rise through the ranks.

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Philipe became king in 1621 
at the age of 16

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and heir to the Hapsburg 
art collection in Madrid.

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In a court that commissioned

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not only paintings 
but poetry and theatre too,

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we often talk about
the "Golden Age of Spain",

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and it was a time 
when great palaces were being built

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and culture was flourishing, 
with among others:

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El Greco, Velasquez, Zurbaran, 
Murillo and Cervantes.

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But Philip IV was in trouble
for much of his rule,

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mainly because of long drawn out 
expensive wars, revolts, revolutions,

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and trouble in the colonies.

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But also because 
of genetics and inbreeding.

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For two centuries, the Habsburg kings

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had married first cousins,
nieces and aunts,

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resulting in an onslaught of physical 
and mental ailments

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because of their limited gene pool.

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The distinctive "Habsburg jaw" 
we see on Philip IV

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was inherited from earlier Habsburgs,

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and likely the result 
of the Royal Family's inbreeding.

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Despite the Spanish Colonial Empire,

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the country was almost continuously
in financial difficulties,

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and had declared bankruptcies
in 1647 and 1653.

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The Spanish royal family 
was so broke

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that they often couldn't afford 
firewood to heat the palace,

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or bread for the tables.

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In fact, when Velasquez died,

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the crown still owed him 
17 years of salary payments.

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And yet, what does Las Meninas portray?

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A wealthy family dressed
in the finest clothes money can buy

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surrounded 
by gloriously attired servants

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in an ornate and sumptuous setting.

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Like all royal portraiture, 
it is a form of propaganda

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designed to show a courtly audience,
dynastic stability and Imperial wealth.

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But one thing Philip IV can't disguise
is the lack of a male heir.

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He is on his second marriage
by the time of this painting.

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He had 10 children with his first wife, 
Isabelle de Bourbon,

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but only one son and heir.

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His wife died in 1644.

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And then in 1646, their son died.

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A year later, in a hurry 
to create a new son and heir,

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he married his 14-year-old niece, Marianna
— when he was 44.

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She gave him five children,
but only two survived to adulthood.

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A daughter, Margarita Theresa, 
born in 1651,

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the infanta in Las Meninas,
who sadly would die in her teens,

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and the future king Charles II of Spain

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who was born 5 years after Las Meninas.

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Charles however, 
was severely disabled,

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thanks to inbreeding,

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and he would be the last
of the Spanish Habsburgs.

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Velasquez's position at the court

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gave him unique access
to the royal collections,

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and he would naturally be influenced
by the works he saw every day.

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He also visited Italy at least twice,

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on extended trips 
to buy paintings for Philipe IV,

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and to study the great masters.

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He was accompanied on these trips
by his enslaved assistant,

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a notable painter in his own right, 
Juan de Pareja,

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who would be given
his freedom by Velasquez

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shortly after he painted this beautiful 
and dignified portrait in 1650.

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The work's extraordinary lifelike quality
so astonished the papal court,

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that he was asked to paint Pope Innocent X

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one of the painter's best 
and most psychologically insightful works,

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which has been described 
as "a symphony in red".

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It is said that when the pope saw
his portrait completed,

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he exclaimed somewhat bewildered:

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"Troppo Vero" - "too truthful".

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The influence of contemporary 
Italian artists, can be seen

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in Velasquez's mastery of perspective,

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and his rendering of the male nude
in this large canvas,

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he painted while in Rome.

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It was Titian and Peter Paul Rubens,

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who would have more influence
than any other artist

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on the development of his style,

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and in particular his royal portraits,

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where, in some cases, 
we can clearly see

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stylistic similarities
between the great masters.

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This early Titian painting hung
in the Spanish Royal Palace

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when Philip IV came to power

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and was used as the standard

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by which all other royal equestrian
portraits would be judged.

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And this spectacular life-sized
equestrian portrait by Velasquez

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of Philip IV clearly influenced 
by Titian and Rubens,

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not only in its simplicity of pose

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but also in its depiction of the King

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as a restrained and powerful ruler.

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Velasquez's portrait however is livelier,
more elegant and uses a lighter pallette,

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and doesn't rely 
on a highly charged background.

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The Flemish painter Rubens, even visited 
the Spanish court of Philip IV in 1628.

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He was actually on a diplomatic mission,

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but still managed to paint five 
portraits of Philipe,

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while he was there.

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He became great friends with Velasquez

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and encouraged him to go to Italy
to study the Italian masters

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to move away from chiaroscuro,

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to be looser in his brush work
and to adopt a brighter palette colour.

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Rubens was not only a successful painter,

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but he was also an important diplomat

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who had been knighted 
despite his humble background.

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The ambitious Velasquez 
saw Rubens as a role model,

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and through him he found someone
he could identify with.

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It was Titian's late works that inspired
both Rubens and Velasquez.

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Titian used sketchy and loosely
applied brush work,

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and he would drag and smudge
paint over the canvas

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to suggest the form, 
rather than using definitive Strokes.

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He also used a very thick
rough weave for his canvases,

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that gave texture to his surfaces.

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Velasquez would do the same.

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Maybe less well known is the influence
of Sánchez Coello and Antonis Mor,

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who were in the royal collection,

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and would also be important
to how Velasquez helped Philipe IV

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forge a calculated image
of power and piety.

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Probably the biggest influence
on Las Meninas though,

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was a painting from two centuries earlier,

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"The Arnolfini Portrait", by Jan Van Eyck,

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that I discussed in my earlier video.

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This too was 
in the collection of Philip IV,

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and Velasquez would pass it every day
on the way to his Studio.

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Like Las Meninas, the Arnolfini portrait 
also has a mirror

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positioned at the back
of the pictorial space,

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00:12:59,602 --> 00:13:03,591
reflecting two figures who would have 
the same point of view as we do.

242
00:13:04,271 --> 00:13:07,930
It also plays with pictorial space,
reflections and illusion,

243
00:13:08,811 --> 00:13:11,349
not only in art but also in literature.

244
00:13:11,475 --> 00:13:14,968
For example, Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes,

245
00:13:14,968 --> 00:13:18,290
is itself a complex multifaceted picture

246
00:13:18,350 --> 00:13:21,380
of the relationship
between reality and illusion.

247
00:13:24,710 --> 00:13:26,574
Velasquez used a very coarse canvas,

248
00:13:26,634 --> 00:13:29,775
and he didn't use many
preliminary sketches that we know of,

249
00:13:29,822 --> 00:13:32,824
but rather, he painted
directly onto the canvas.

250
00:13:33,064 --> 00:13:35,114
As we can see with these x-rays

251
00:13:35,114 --> 00:13:37,585
he often changed his work
as he was painting it,

252
00:13:37,585 --> 00:13:40,416
and these changes 
are known as "pentimento"

253
00:13:40,467 --> 00:13:43,555
Velasquez was so experienced
by the time of Las Meninas,

254
00:13:43,564 --> 00:13:47,602
that the work has very few changes,
apart from his self-portrait,

255
00:13:47,711 --> 00:13:50,933
which initially turned his head
more towards the Infanta.

256
00:13:51,350 --> 00:13:53,535
For much of his early career,

257
00:13:53,535 --> 00:13:55,708
the artist used 
a red ground for underlayer,

258
00:13:55,708 --> 00:13:58,113
good for building up 
contrast and tonal values

259
00:13:58,151 --> 00:14:00,301
- the light and the dark.

260
00:14:00,371 --> 00:14:03,706
But by the time of Las Meninas, 
he had a much looser style,

261
00:14:03,726 --> 00:14:07,235
and diluted his pigments t
o make them more translucent and fluid,

262
00:14:07,315 --> 00:14:09,274
and he painted quite thinly,

263
00:14:09,314 --> 00:14:12,747
so this necessitated using 
a neutral grey ground,

264
00:14:12,777 --> 00:14:15,080
which allowed 
for a much wider tonal range,

265
00:14:15,110 --> 00:14:18,938
greater luminosity
and a general silvery range of colour.

266
00:14:19,305 --> 00:14:21,070
This was unusual at the time,

267
00:14:21,070 --> 00:14:24,104
as most canvases were primed 
using dark colours.

268
00:14:24,674 --> 00:14:27,496
He would paint "alla Prima" or wet-on-wet,

269
00:14:27,496 --> 00:14:31,065
where layers of wet paint are applied 
to existing layers of wet paint,

270
00:14:31,065 --> 00:14:34,050
often finishing his paintings
in one session.

271
00:14:34,135 --> 00:14:36,411
With a painting
of this size and complexity,

272
00:14:36,411 --> 00:14:38,051
that would not be possible,

273
00:14:38,061 --> 00:14:41,176
and we can see one example
in the Infanta's sleeve,

274
00:14:41,176 --> 00:14:43,431
where although it is mostly wet-on-wet,

275
00:14:43,444 --> 00:14:47,094
areas of highlights have been dabbed 
on later in thick impasto,

276
00:14:47,094 --> 00:14:48,899
to create texture.

277
00:14:49,014 --> 00:14:52,576
With Velazquez, you are always aware
that you are looking at paint.

278
00:14:52,746 --> 00:14:56,151
He doesn't try to hide his brushmarks
- quite the reverse.

279
00:14:56,742 --> 00:14:59,194
By the time he came round
to painting Las Meninas,

280
00:14:59,210 --> 00:15:02,284
his technique was 
at its freest and most fluid.

281
00:15:02,864 --> 00:15:05,504
It is often called 
a precursor to Impressionism,

282
00:15:05,518 --> 00:15:07,345
but it's more than that.

283
00:15:07,375 --> 00:15:11,415
Here, the silver of the tray on which
the Menina holds the ceramic container

284
00:15:11,472 --> 00:15:14,248
is achieved with a couple of flicks
of white paint,

285
00:15:14,710 --> 00:15:17,669
and the flowers are just
a few slashes of red.

286
00:15:17,899 --> 00:15:22,065
We often talk about Chiaroscuro,
the extreme contrast of light and dark,

287
00:15:22,209 --> 00:15:24,006
when we talk about Velasquez,

288
00:15:24,036 --> 00:15:26,504
and comparisons 
are often made with Caravaggio.

289
00:15:26,754 --> 00:15:30,135
He painted his most technically
Caravaggio-like picture,

290
00:15:30,155 --> 00:15:32,732
"Christ after the flagellation', early on.

291
00:15:33,113 --> 00:15:36,742
But later, he used a more subtle 
variation of chiarascuro.

292
00:15:37,226 --> 00:15:40,537
Still using light to direct our vision
but more subtly.

293
00:15:40,627 --> 00:15:44,115
As we can see when we look
at Las Maninas in greyscale.

294
00:15:45,153 --> 00:15:48,362
Velasquez uses a dark colour palette
for Las Meninas,

295
00:15:48,457 --> 00:15:51,335
mostly neutral colours and quite limited,

296
00:15:51,366 --> 00:15:54,073
and yet he manages 
to get a broad range of tones

297
00:15:54,073 --> 00:15:58,340
with just whites, blues, yellows, 
ochres, and small touches of red,

298
00:15:58,618 --> 00:16:00,834
that help draw your eyes 
around the painting

299
00:16:00,834 --> 00:16:03,027
towards key points of interest.

300
00:16:03,499 --> 00:16:06,648
Velasquez even lets us know
which colours he used,

301
00:16:06,730 --> 00:16:09,538
as the palette that the painter holds
in his left hand,

302
00:16:09,555 --> 00:16:12,619
has the very pigments 
he used on Las Meninas.

303
00:16:16,727 --> 00:16:18,873
Between 1640 and 1660,

304
00:16:18,903 --> 00:16:21,189
Velasquez mostly painted 
single portraits.

305
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,611
The composition and structure
of Las Meninas was extremely complicated,

306
00:16:25,671 --> 00:16:27,757
and with so many characters

307
00:16:27,767 --> 00:16:31,207
it's really like the staging of a piece 
of theatre or performance art.

308
00:16:31,237 --> 00:16:33,119
It needed to be carefully planned out,

309
00:16:33,119 --> 00:16:35,972
with every character seen,
as well as being seen.

310
00:16:36,126 --> 00:16:39,545
In Velasquez's hands, 
they are fully realised individuals.

311
00:16:40,305 --> 00:16:43,729
Thanks to the 18th century 
art historian Antonio Palamino,

312
00:16:43,733 --> 00:16:47,059
who wrote a 1724 book on Spanish painters,

313
00:16:47,174 --> 00:16:49,994
we know quite a lot 
about the people in Las Meninas,

314
00:16:49,994 --> 00:16:51,747
including their names.

315
00:16:52,019 --> 00:16:54,966
Palomino spoke to Velasquez 's colleagues
after his death,

316
00:16:55,066 --> 00:16:58,058
as well as four of the nine people
pictured in the painting.

317
00:16:58,370 --> 00:17:00,241
Most of the members of the Court

318
00:17:00,241 --> 00:17:02,560
are grouped around
the 5-year-old infanta,

319
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:03,997
Margarita Teresa,

320
00:17:04,017 --> 00:17:07,660
who is attended by two "meninas"
- or maids-in-waiting.

321
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:09,801
María Agustina Sarmiento,

322
00:17:09,811 --> 00:17:12,018
who is passing her water
in terracotta pots

323
00:17:12,048 --> 00:17:13,760
(so it could be summer).

324
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,452
and Isabel de Velasco, 
who seems to be in mid-curtsy.

325
00:17:18,009 --> 00:17:20,540
Velasquez had painted the princess 
many times,

326
00:17:20,812 --> 00:17:24,362
but unfortunately she would die 
before she was out of her teens.

327
00:17:24,652 --> 00:17:26,572
She is in the centre of the painting,

328
00:17:26,582 --> 00:17:29,292
with the central axis
passing between her eyes.

329
00:17:29,592 --> 00:17:31,582
Her face is spotlit by light

330
00:17:31,622 --> 00:17:33,792
coming from an unseen window - top right,

331
00:17:33,826 --> 00:17:37,489
and her white satin dress glows
as she is bathed in the sun.

332
00:17:38,049 --> 00:17:39,871
It is the princess's presence

333
00:17:39,871 --> 00:17:42,012
that makes this a "political painting",

334
00:17:42,042 --> 00:17:45,656
as at the time the Infanta 
was the only child of Philipe IV,

335
00:17:45,726 --> 00:17:49,481
with the dynastic succession
resting on her tiny shoulders.

336
00:17:50,131 --> 00:17:52,718
Showing her as a healthy 
and beautiful princess

337
00:17:52,718 --> 00:17:55,315
is important for future 
marriage prospects.

338
00:17:56,064 --> 00:17:57,705
We don't know the name of the dog,

339
00:17:57,725 --> 00:17:59,893
but we know the breed
is a Spanish Mastiff,

340
00:17:59,893 --> 00:18:02,044
which were bred as guard dogs.

341
00:18:02,207 --> 00:18:06,219
There are few artists with such skill
in painting animals as Velasquez!

342
00:18:06,772 --> 00:18:09,749
The dog is being nudged awake
by Nicolas Pertusato,

343
00:18:09,771 --> 00:18:12,277
an Italian dwarf and Court jester.

344
00:18:12,475 --> 00:18:15,558
Next to him, is the Austrian dwarf 
Maria Bárbola,

345
00:18:15,678 --> 00:18:19,509
who is depicted in an unusual way
for a person in her position at the time.

346
00:18:20,078 --> 00:18:22,884
People with dwarfism
were considered curiosities,

347
00:18:22,990 --> 00:18:24,725
as little more than "pets",

348
00:18:24,765 --> 00:18:27,652
but Velasquez always 
gave dignity to characters

349
00:18:27,689 --> 00:18:30,226
who, due to their profession or condition,

350
00:18:30,226 --> 00:18:32,180
were treated as lesser beings.

351
00:18:32,180 --> 00:18:35,229
He shows Maria standing upright,
beside the princess.

352
00:18:35,422 --> 00:18:37,888
She has a thoughtful 
and controlled expression,

353
00:18:37,898 --> 00:18:41,866
and is looking directly at us
- or the royal couple.

354
00:18:42,882 --> 00:18:46,143
Velasquez entered the service 
of the palace as a royal servant

355
00:18:46,165 --> 00:18:48,337
and initially was considered a worker,

356
00:18:48,337 --> 00:18:50,865
just like the dwarves of the Court,
or the jesters.

357
00:18:51,081 --> 00:18:55,131
And so he treated them with an empathy, 
not seen before in royal portraits.

358
00:18:55,713 --> 00:18:58,089
He never mocked them or caricatured them,

359
00:18:58,089 --> 00:19:02,085
and often made them the focal point, 
as fully fleshed out humans.

360
00:19:02,836 --> 00:19:05,825
In the shadows, this woman 
is Doña Marcela de Ulloa,

361
00:19:05,825 --> 00:19:07,503
the Infanta's chaperone,

362
00:19:07,503 --> 00:19:10,550
and she is in mid-conversation 
with an unidentified bodyguard.

363
00:19:10,580 --> 00:19:14,837
At the rear is Don José Nieto Velázquez,
brother of the artist,

364
00:19:14,886 --> 00:19:17,263
and the Queen's Chamberlain.

365
00:19:17,263 --> 00:19:19,332
Velasquez had possibly painted him before.

366
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,117
He has paused at the door, 
pulling back the heavy exterior curtain,

367
00:19:23,127 --> 00:19:25,089
with one foot resting on a step

368
00:19:25,109 --> 00:19:27,897
while his weight is on his other leg
on a different step.

369
00:19:28,242 --> 00:19:30,976
As the Queen's attendant
he was required to be at hand

370
00:19:30,976 --> 00:19:33,100
to open and close doors for her.

371
00:19:33,169 --> 00:19:35,834
We don't know however
if he is coming or going,

372
00:19:35,896 --> 00:19:38,203
but the light certainly 
pulls us in,

373
00:19:38,274 --> 00:19:40,989
and it looks
as if he will usher all of us,

374
00:19:41,019 --> 00:19:44,415
out from the created world
and into the real world.

375
00:19:44,741 --> 00:19:47,321
In this masterpiece of Illusion,

376
00:19:47,321 --> 00:19:50,294
Velasquez clearly goes beyond
the physical confines of space,

377
00:19:50,314 --> 00:19:52,699
by playing with implied spaces,

378
00:19:52,704 --> 00:19:54,854
in this case the rest of the palace.

379
00:19:55,296 --> 00:19:58,693
Velasquez himself is pictured 
emerging from behind the canvas,

380
00:19:58,753 --> 00:20:02,332
moving into our gaze 
from the shadows into the light,

381
00:20:02,652 --> 00:20:07,752
as he looks at us in the implied space
looking at him in the pictorial space.

382
00:20:08,051 --> 00:20:12,714
He is supremely self-confident and 
certainly no subservient courtier.

383
00:20:13,191 --> 00:20:15,770
He is proudly holding
the tools of his trade,

384
00:20:15,770 --> 00:20:18,657
his palette is turned towards us
showing its colours.

385
00:20:18,665 --> 00:20:21,082
He also holds a mahlstick,

386
00:20:21,092 --> 00:20:23,529
used for steadying the hand 
when doing close work.

387
00:20:23,569 --> 00:20:26,001
And the long round brushes
we know he used

388
00:20:26,031 --> 00:20:29,064
which created soft edges
rather than hard lines.

389
00:20:29,083 --> 00:20:32,700
His brush is dipped in paint
and perhaps he is considering

390
00:20:32,700 --> 00:20:34,852
whether to add some finishing touches,

391
00:20:34,852 --> 00:20:36,283
but it is also possible

392
00:20:36,294 --> 00:20:38,917
that the first stroke 
has not yet been applied.

393
00:20:38,957 --> 00:20:41,913
His hand is just a flurry 
of rapid brush strokes

394
00:20:41,913 --> 00:20:45,384
and it would appear
to be metamorphosing into his brush,

395
00:20:45,414 --> 00:20:48,440
as his flesh becomes instrument.

396
00:20:48,908 --> 00:20:53,428
It is audacious that a servant, 
albeit a courtier and royal favourite,

397
00:20:53,528 --> 00:20:56,692
has given himself greater
prominence than his master.

398
00:20:57,052 --> 00:20:59,810
But it is also inconceivable

399
00:20:59,810 --> 00:21:03,957
that Philip IV did not give 
the concept his blessing in advance.

400
00:21:04,090 --> 00:21:06,196
In the same way 
the Queen's Chamberlain

401
00:21:06,196 --> 00:21:09,005
is opening up the implied space
beyond the picture frame,

402
00:21:09,005 --> 00:21:11,938
the mirror here is reflecting
the opposite direction,

403
00:21:11,938 --> 00:21:14,371
forward into the viewer's space.

404
00:21:15,021 --> 00:21:18,773
The reflection is of King Philip IV
and Maria of Austria,

405
00:21:18,773 --> 00:21:20,622
the King and Queen.

406
00:21:20,748 --> 00:21:23,034
We know it is a mirror
and not a painting,

407
00:21:23,034 --> 00:21:25,499
as everything else is muted and fuzzy,

408
00:21:25,559 --> 00:21:27,395
whereas the image
of the King and Queen

409
00:21:27,405 --> 00:21:29,653
is bathed in light in the beveled mirror

410
00:21:29,713 --> 00:21:32,165
giving them an almost divine presence,

411
00:21:32,282 --> 00:21:34,250
that is, if we believe

412
00:21:34,250 --> 00:21:38,034
the King and Queen are in the same room
as the other characters.

413
00:21:40,999 --> 00:21:43,089
The aforementioned historian, Palamino,

414
00:21:43,089 --> 00:21:45,685
noted that the mirror 
which shows the royal couple,

415
00:21:45,715 --> 00:21:47,272
was actually a reflection,

416
00:21:47,272 --> 00:21:49,282
not of the real monarchs in the room,

417
00:21:49,282 --> 00:21:51,655
but of the canvas
Velasquez is working on.

418
00:21:51,755 --> 00:21:54,831
In other words, 
the couple are not in the room.

419
00:21:55,341 --> 00:21:59,090
This idea is disputed though
as the reflection is not logical.

420
00:21:59,485 --> 00:22:01,382
It has to be said though,

421
00:22:01,392 --> 00:22:04,233
this is not the first time 
Velasquez has painted an image

422
00:22:04,290 --> 00:22:07,772
which explores the relationship
between reality, reflection, and image,

423
00:22:08,389 --> 00:22:11,102
and which flouts the laws of Optics.

424
00:22:11,282 --> 00:22:14,923
Here too, we see the mirror
with this rather blurred reflection.

425
00:22:15,831 --> 00:22:19,170
The constant speculation
as to what is happening in this painting,

426
00:22:19,216 --> 00:22:20,839
who is where, and why,

427
00:22:20,899 --> 00:22:23,799
is absolutely intentional on the part 
of Velasquez.

428
00:22:24,587 --> 00:22:27,669
Whatever the study
of perspective or reflection tells us,

429
00:22:27,729 --> 00:22:30,889
the royal presence is still
the most plausible explanation

430
00:22:30,889 --> 00:22:33,440
for the outward glances
of the characters,

431
00:22:33,442 --> 00:22:36,205
and I think that the King and Queen
are in the room,

432
00:22:36,205 --> 00:22:38,620
and the mirror is a reflection of them

433
00:22:38,630 --> 00:22:41,486
at the far end of the room,
sitting for Velasquez.

434
00:22:41,806 --> 00:22:45,548
The fact that the Queen's Chamberlain
is opening the curtain to the Palace,

435
00:22:45,578 --> 00:22:48,314
suggests that the royal couple
are preparing to exit.

436
00:22:48,358 --> 00:22:51,670
This would explained 
the Infanta's gaze towards her parents.

437
00:22:52,150 --> 00:22:54,136
Velasquez, who seems to be peeping

438
00:22:54,146 --> 00:22:56,937
out of the darkness
realising his time is up,

439
00:22:56,992 --> 00:22:59,636
and the Menina 
to the right of the Infanta,

440
00:22:59,636 --> 00:23:02,559
who is beginning to curtsy,
as she looks towards the couple.

441
00:23:02,978 --> 00:23:06,038
There is a palpable sense
of anticipation in the air.

442
00:23:06,318 --> 00:23:09,363
If the King and Queen are there
— and I think they are —

443
00:23:09,423 --> 00:23:12,428
then Velasquez 
has one more trick up his sleeve.

444
00:23:12,518 --> 00:23:16,068
He has placed the King and Queen
outside of the pictorial space,

445
00:23:16,238 --> 00:23:19,840
standing exactly where we,
the commoners, would stand,

446
00:23:19,902 --> 00:23:21,716
when we view the paintings.

447
00:23:21,806 --> 00:23:25,361
We are standing right next
to King Philipe IV of Spain!

448
00:23:29,245 --> 00:23:31,569
With this painting, Velasquez 
was out to prove

449
00:23:31,569 --> 00:23:34,203
that painting 
was a noble, intellectual art,

450
00:23:34,228 --> 00:23:36,857
and Las Meninas would be evidence.

451
00:23:36,966 --> 00:23:40,488
It is in fact, a portrait 
about the painting of a portrait.

452
00:23:41,327 --> 00:23:43,782
Let's start with the physicality 
of the space.

453
00:23:43,847 --> 00:23:47,104
The building 
was destroyed by fire in 1734,

454
00:23:47,104 --> 00:23:49,381
but the historical plan still exist.

455
00:23:49,541 --> 00:23:52,630
Las Meninas was painted 
in the Cuarto del Príncipe,

456
00:23:52,660 --> 00:23:55,920
or the King's quarters, 
in the Alcazar in Madrid,

457
00:23:56,260 --> 00:23:58,355
which is the room depicted in the work.

458
00:23:58,675 --> 00:24:00,343
It was once part of the apartment

459
00:24:00,343 --> 00:24:03,797
occupied by the crown Prince 
Don Baltasar Carlos,

460
00:24:03,826 --> 00:24:05,810
who had died in 1646.

461
00:24:06,272 --> 00:24:08,165
Once the painting was finished

462
00:24:08,165 --> 00:24:10,732
it was planned to be placed
in that same room.

463
00:24:10,836 --> 00:24:12,631
An inventory of the room, proved

464
00:24:12,661 --> 00:24:15,249
that everything Velasquez painted, 
was really there

465
00:24:15,249 --> 00:24:17,061
(apart from the mirror in the back).

466
00:24:17,415 --> 00:24:20,415
The illusion starts 
with the almost life-size figures.

467
00:24:20,535 --> 00:24:24,710
The painting is enormous, 
coming in at over 10 feet by 9 feet.

468
00:24:25,190 --> 00:24:27,608
The room had 
these wonderful high ceilings,

469
00:24:27,648 --> 00:24:30,042
and the shutters
have been placed by Velasquez

470
00:24:30,062 --> 00:24:33,287
to reveal slivers of light 
exactly where he wants it.

471
00:24:33,631 --> 00:24:36,990
The main light source 
is from an invisible window to the right

472
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,109
and another source is the door at the back

473
00:24:39,109 --> 00:24:40,832
that illuminates the figure

474
00:24:40,832 --> 00:24:43,682
and sends a pencil thin beam
across the floor.

475
00:24:44,149 --> 00:24:46,728
While Las Meninas
is clearly a royal painting,

476
00:24:46,764 --> 00:24:49,539
it stands out from 
other court paintings,

477
00:24:49,549 --> 00:24:52,682
because the piece was intended
to hang in a private room

478
00:24:52,692 --> 00:24:54,815
rather than displayed publicly.

479
00:24:54,855 --> 00:24:56,791
It may look formal to us nowadays,

480
00:24:56,791 --> 00:24:59,183
but compared to other royal portraits,

481
00:24:59,183 --> 00:25:02,767
Las Meninas is fairly spontaneous, 
casual, and relaxed.

482
00:25:02,913 --> 00:25:05,175
There is a lot in this painting;

483
00:25:05,225 --> 00:25:08,529
people, animals, reflections, 
paintings on the walls

484
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,405
textures, other objects, and movement

485
00:25:11,512 --> 00:25:14,208
- and yet, there is a cohesion
to the canvas,

486
00:25:14,208 --> 00:25:17,061
because it is organised
in an orderly composition.

487
00:25:17,614 --> 00:25:19,353
It is balanced perfectly

488
00:25:19,353 --> 00:25:22,932
with the relatively quiet top half
against the busy bottom half.

489
00:25:23,521 --> 00:25:27,082
The figures occupy a clear 
horizontal strip across the painting,

490
00:25:27,460 --> 00:25:29,280
but it isn't frieze-like,

491
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,850
as they are at different depths
into the view.

492
00:25:31,910 --> 00:25:34,888
The first layer is the canvas, 
the dwarf, and the dog.

493
00:25:35,656 --> 00:25:38,060
Then we have the Infanta and her maids.

494
00:25:38,996 --> 00:25:41,877
And then Velasquez, 
the chaperone and the bodyguard.

495
00:25:42,362 --> 00:25:44,792
The layering continues
throughout the picture,

496
00:25:44,802 --> 00:25:47,413
and beyond 
the picture frame.

497
00:25:48,191 --> 00:25:50,189
The painting features several frames;

498
00:25:50,189 --> 00:25:52,836
the frame of the room
in which they are all standing,

499
00:25:52,898 --> 00:25:55,067
the frames of the paintings on the wall,

500
00:25:55,067 --> 00:25:57,697
the frame of the canvas 
Velasquez is working on,

501
00:25:57,867 --> 00:25:59,276
the frame of the mirror,

502
00:25:59,276 --> 00:26:00,506
and the frame of the door

503
00:26:00,506 --> 00:26:01,736
in the background.

504
00:26:01,816 --> 00:26:05,646
These frames provide a strong linear
and geometric theme to the painting.

505
00:26:05,856 --> 00:26:08,621
You get a feel of structure
and organisation.

506
00:26:09,061 --> 00:26:13,012
But a perfect perspective is not essential
to our understanding of this painting,

507
00:26:13,433 --> 00:26:16,211
any more than a perfect 
understanding of Optics.

508
00:26:16,830 --> 00:26:18,319
What is the focal point?

509
00:26:18,428 --> 00:26:20,316
Well, there are several possibilities.

510
00:26:20,433 --> 00:26:22,405
Just look at the picture as a whole,

511
00:26:22,465 --> 00:26:25,030
and you notice your eye 
scans around the canvas,

512
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,606
as it would do in any large space.

513
00:26:27,900 --> 00:26:30,382
We ricochet from one figure to another.

514
00:26:31,342 --> 00:26:33,765
Possible focus points are the man in the 
doorway,

515
00:26:33,765 --> 00:26:36,505
the Infanta, or the reflection
of the King and Queen.

516
00:26:36,943 --> 00:26:38,593
It seems at first glance

517
00:26:38,593 --> 00:26:42,001
that Velasquez is drawing 
all our attention to the Infanta,

518
00:26:42,051 --> 00:26:44,870
and he has used some clever 
and subtle techniques

519
00:26:44,883 --> 00:26:47,703
to draw attention to her
in such a busy scene.

520
00:26:47,959 --> 00:26:49,643
There is the dress of course,

521
00:26:49,643 --> 00:26:52,009
but also she faces towards
the main light source

522
00:26:52,009 --> 00:26:53,356
coming from the right,

523
00:26:53,356 --> 00:26:56,493
while most of the other figures
are facing away from the light.

524
00:26:57,030 --> 00:26:59,761
Maria Augustina 
is looking directly at her,

525
00:26:59,761 --> 00:27:03,515
and the characters to the left 
nudge us towards the Infanta.

526
00:27:03,967 --> 00:27:07,450
We do know that this painting 
was not intended to be on public view

527
00:27:07,466 --> 00:27:10,356
and was really considered
a private possession of the King

528
00:27:10,386 --> 00:27:12,294
- for an audience of one,

529
00:27:12,745 --> 00:27:16,270
which would suggest the focal point
is the reflection of the King.

530
00:27:17,020 --> 00:27:20,437
The focus is still highly debated 
and always wil be.

531
00:27:20,457 --> 00:27:22,425
But the vanishing point is not.

532
00:27:22,632 --> 00:27:26,043
It comes from José Nieto,
as he stands in the staircase,

533
00:27:26,857 --> 00:27:31,091
more specifically the crook of his arm
is the exact vanishing point.

534
00:27:31,876 --> 00:27:35,116
This is the key to Velasquez's 
mastery of Illusion.

535
00:27:35,396 --> 00:27:37,610
He uses realism, light, and structure

536
00:27:37,610 --> 00:27:40,133
to pull together the disparate elements

537
00:27:40,133 --> 00:27:42,583
in an exquisitely balanced painting.

538
00:27:43,186 --> 00:27:45,242
It is an image so complex,

539
00:27:45,302 --> 00:27:48,738
that he could only have achieved it
at this later stage of his life,

540
00:27:48,768 --> 00:27:50,458
with the extensive knowledge

541
00:27:50,458 --> 00:27:53,369
he has picked up 
from a lifetime of painting.

542
00:27:56,209 --> 00:27:59,340
The two paintings on the back wall
are important symbolically,

543
00:27:59,342 --> 00:28:03,750
and represent two oil paintings
by Rubens, Velasquez's role model.

544
00:28:03,750 --> 00:28:06,897
And show scenes 
from Ovid's "Metamorphoses".

545
00:28:06,916 --> 00:28:08,986
There is a good reason they are there.

546
00:28:09,016 --> 00:28:11,633
If we remember that Velasquez
wants desperately

547
00:28:11,633 --> 00:28:15,330
to raise his profession
from "tradesmen" to "artistic nobility".

548
00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:18,835
They tell the tale of the superiority, 
the nobility,

549
00:28:18,873 --> 00:28:21,266
and the Divine calling of the artist.

550
00:28:21,286 --> 00:28:25,216
In which mortals prove themselves
more skilled than even the gods.

551
00:28:25,672 --> 00:28:29,743
Rubens was the most influential
Flemish artist of the 17th century,

552
00:28:30,014 --> 00:28:32,353
so by linking himself with Rubens,

553
00:28:32,373 --> 00:28:36,763
Velasquez is showing that he had reached
the highest tier in European art.

554
00:28:39,843 --> 00:28:42,584
One of the great enigmas
in the portrait of Velasquez,

555
00:28:42,594 --> 00:28:44,350
is the Red Cross on his tunic.

556
00:28:45,130 --> 00:28:48,262
It is the heraldic symbol 
of the order of Santiago,

557
00:28:48,312 --> 00:28:51,531
a religious and military order, 
founded in the 12th century.

558
00:28:51,579 --> 00:28:53,490
He had petitioned the King

559
00:28:53,490 --> 00:28:56,072
to make him
a knight of Santiago for years,

560
00:28:56,082 --> 00:28:57,974
to secure a noble status,

561
00:28:57,980 --> 00:29:02,006
citing the link between artistic nobility
and social nobility.

562
00:29:02,436 --> 00:29:05,410
But the committee of the order 
of Santiago refused

563
00:29:05,485 --> 00:29:07,389
- due to his bloodline.

564
00:29:07,459 --> 00:29:10,928
It was rumoured that his grandparents
were Jewish converts.

565
00:29:10,938 --> 00:29:12,498
Luckily for Velasquez,

566
00:29:12,498 --> 00:29:14,539
as well as being employer and employee,

567
00:29:14,539 --> 00:29:16,989
he and Philip IV were close friends,

568
00:29:17,019 --> 00:29:20,836
and he was finally inducted 
in the order in 1659,

569
00:29:20,919 --> 00:29:22,918
a year before his death,

570
00:29:22,918 --> 00:29:26,023
after the King obtained 
a dispensation from the Pope

571
00:29:26,023 --> 00:29:29,497
to overrule doubts
as to the artist's blood and trade.

572
00:29:29,827 --> 00:29:33,097
Diego Velasquez,
in many ways was unremarkable,

573
00:29:33,097 --> 00:29:36,163
apart from the fact
he was appointed Court painter.

574
00:29:36,351 --> 00:29:39,080
He had one wife, one friend (the King),

575
00:29:39,140 --> 00:29:41,463
and one studio (the palace),

576
00:29:41,894 --> 00:29:45,006
and spent his whole life
climbing the social ladder.

577
00:29:45,070 --> 00:29:47,630
His Knighthood is the culmination.

578
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,927
What makes makes this cross
in the painting interesting,

579
00:29:50,957 --> 00:29:52,201
is that he was knighted

580
00:29:52,201 --> 00:29:55,445
a full 3 years after 
Las Meninas was finished,

581
00:29:55,459 --> 00:29:57,644
and a year before he died,

582
00:29:57,644 --> 00:30:00,712
which means that the cross
was painted on the artist's tunic

583
00:30:00,712 --> 00:30:03,209
years after the painting was created.

584
00:30:03,774 --> 00:30:06,602
Tradition had it, 
that after the artist's death,

585
00:30:06,652 --> 00:30:11,170
Philipe IV himself painted the Red Cross
of the Knights of Santiago on the tunic,

586
00:30:11,170 --> 00:30:13,159
but that's unlikely.

587
00:30:13,209 --> 00:30:16,176
After the painting was cleaned
in the early 1980s

588
00:30:16,176 --> 00:30:18,766
it was revealed
that the brush work of the cross

589
00:30:18,766 --> 00:30:21,410
is uniform with the rest of the surface,

590
00:30:21,446 --> 00:30:24,631
so it was almost certainly Velasquez 
who painted the cross.

591
00:30:25,030 --> 00:30:28,153
We can only imagine
the immense satisfaction

592
00:30:28,173 --> 00:30:30,869
the artist got from adding 
the cross to the painting,

593
00:30:30,875 --> 00:30:33,986
and therefore rubbing
the snobby courtier's noses

594
00:30:33,989 --> 00:30:36,322
in the fact that he was now one of them.

595
00:30:37,242 --> 00:30:40,361
Velasquez, who was in essence, 
born a trades person,

596
00:30:40,389 --> 00:30:42,494
died a wealthy noble.

597
00:30:42,724 --> 00:30:45,885
On his death it is said
that the King was heartbroken,

598
00:30:45,885 --> 00:30:48,635
and the great friendship
that had united them

599
00:30:48,665 --> 00:30:51,606
is evident in three words
that the monarch wrote

600
00:30:51,646 --> 00:30:54,122
in a memorandum after his death:

601
00:30:54,382 --> 00:30:56,259
"I am shaken".

602
00:30:57,801 --> 00:30:59,921
Transcript by Margarida Mariz