Art museums

Las Meninas, Velázquez

Look

Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) was court painter to King Felipe IV. He was a realist painter.

The figure in the centre of Las Meninas is the Infanta Margarita at the age of five. Her ladies-in-waiting are standing around her. On the left, Velázquez has included a self-portrait of himself, painting the picture.

Look at the picture carefully. In the 17th century there were no photographs, so paintings were the only way of knowing what people looked like. Compare the people in the painting with the people you know today. What do you think has changed? What hasn’t changed at all?

Las Meninas (1656), Diego Velázquez, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.