Las Meninas- Rearranged Interpretation (Work In Progress)

Las Meninas- Rearranged Interpretation (Work In Progress)

King Philip IV of Spain, Queen Mariana of Austria, Infanta Margarita

In Leo Steinberg’s journal article about Velazquez’s Las Meninas, Steinberg highlights the idea that the subjects of Las Meninas were interrupted in whatever it was they were doing; in the foot notes he explains other philosophers highlight this idea as well. I decided to elaborate on this idea and interpret Las Meninas as if the subjects were ready for Velazquez to paint their portrait. I kept infanta Margarita in the center as she is the main subject, removed the other characters and placed the king and queen of Spain in their place to focus on the royal family. I kept Velazquez visible in the mirror to keep the discussion of social status and nobility present. The mirror is now in the center of the interpretation so the door in the back right is not the focal point. The one point perspective remains. The ultimate goal of this interpretation is to get a visual representation of how the royal family would be depicted had they been ready for the portrait. A question was raised during this process: what else is lost in the digital interpretation compared to the original painting?

The first picture is my interpretation in progress.

The second picture is the remaining layout of my interpretation with the use of Diego Velazquez's paintings of King Philip IV, Queen Mariana or Austria, and Infanta Margarita.

Samantha Bautista, Diego Velazquez

Steinberg, Leo. “Velázquez’ ‘Las Meninas.’” October, vol. 19, 1981, pp. 45–54. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/778659. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.

José Manuel Ballester, Royal Palace (Palacio Real) , 2009

https://www.verkami.com/projects/18588-la-hora-de-las-meninas/blog/32924-quieres-saber-como-era-la-habitacion-de-las-meninas

Snyder, Joel. “‘Las Meninas’ and the Mirror of the Prince.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 11, no. 4, 1985, pp. 539–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343417. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437873

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Mariana_of_Austria

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infanta_Margarita_in_a_White_and_Silver_Dress

Digital art piece