Velazquez’s ambitions through his self-portrayal in court painting Las Meninas
16th to 19th Century Art
Diego de Velazquez, one of the most famous Baroque Spanish artists, is known for his paintings of historical and cultural significance. Serving as a leading painter at the Spanish Court, he has also painted various royal portraits. Social realism and royal subject are recurrent themes in most of Velazquez’ works, including his masterpiece, Las Meninas. This painting, due to its ambiguous subject matter, clever composition and self-portrayal of the painter, has been interpreted on various levels by art critics. While some have highlighted the audacious act posed by the painter in depicting himself alongside the royal family, others view the painting as a retrospect of Velazquez’ life and career. Examining the social context in which Velazquez’s art has evolved, one arrives to the understanding that Velazquez’s self-depiction in Las Meninas is an expression of both his professional and personal ambitions. This paper will start by providing the social-historical and artistic context in which Velazquez’s art has evolved, will then examine the Velazquez’ contribution to the social recognition of the painter profession, and will finally clarify the expression of his personal desire to ascend the Spanish social hierarchy, as seen through his famous painting Las Meninas.
1. Socio-historical and artistic context
Bibliography, themes, influences and major works
Diego de Velazquez (1599–1660), was born in Seville, Spain, which was, at Velazquez’s time, a powerful political entity and a fervently Catholic country. These characteristics would be reflected in the many of paintings of religious and war subjects (Hagen and Hagen, p417). Already in his early career, Velazquez sought to depict social realism. His paintings featured everyday scenes of ordinary people: people eating, drinking or selling water, as seen through Old Women frying eggs (1618) or Water Seller of Seville (1619). With their half-length figures, focused light, attention to textures and details, Velazquez’s early works showed influences by the 16th century painter Caravaggio (Davies, 691). Starting in the 1620s, Velazquez was appointed as a court painter to the Spanish King Philip IV, and his subjects revolved around the Spanish royalty and the king’s subalterns (Philip IV Equestarian, 1636; Count-Duke of Olivares,1634 ). Despite his social position, Velazquez continued to sympathize with the less fortunate, as seen through his respectful depiction of marginal subjects (dwarfs and fools) in paintings such as Carlos Balthazar and Dwarf (1631), or Juan de Calabazas (1637). Loyal to his commitment to social realism, Velazquez depicted the mood of Spain torn by religious and political conflicts, with works of historical significance, such as Surrender at Breda (1624) and Mars, God of War (1640). Social reality is a preoccupation Velazquez carried throughout his career, and reflected in his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656), painted four years before his death. If fact, this painting captured the artistic climate of the painter’s era, as it depicts ambitions of both the painter and his profession.
Artistic Climate and the Painter’s Guilds’ Desire for Advancement
During Velazquez’s time, the painters profession was inadequately recognized (Volk 76). The only organization that legislated artists was the craftsman guilds, composed of tinsmiths, blacksmiths, carvers or carpenters (Volk 76). Painters considered themselves different from the humble trades men, since they believed in the “special properties of art, particularly its effectiveness as an instrument of instruction and its ability to reproduce the natural world” (Volk 76). They sought to promote the study of art, through the founding of an academy of painting. Along this protest movement, painters submitted various documents to the King Phillip the IV, proposing the “founding, organizing, and governing of an academy” (Volk 76). Artists trained according to the academic style would receive the title of academician, which would serve “as a kind of guarantee of professional status and a credential eventually required for an appointment as court painter” (Volk 77). Velazquez, conscious of contemporary issues, as seen in his early career, contributed to promote the social advancements defended by his colleagues,
2. The artistic profession as a noble career
Las Meninas: an Allusion to St. Luke Painting the Madonna
It has been interpreted that Velazquez claimed that the artists’ profession to be of superior nature, by alluding his work to the divine inspirations of artist. Vary Crawford Volk, an art historian from Brown University, draws similarities between Velazquez’s Las Meninas and St. Luke painting the Madonna (see Annexe 1), a scene commonly depicted by various artists of the 15th and 16th century (Volk, 19). In fact, in both works, a painter is engaged in the act of painting. In Las Meninas, it is shown by the presence of Velazquez in front of his canvas, with his colour palette and paint brushes at hand. The other work involves the presence of St. Luke, the patron saint of Arts, also in front of a canvas and making use of his artistic tools. In addition, the theme of mother and child is present in both works as well. For Las Meninas, a child, Princess Margarita is the center of attention, which implies the presence of her mother the Queen, visible through her reflection in the mirror. For St. Luke painting the Madonna, the baby Jesus and Virgin Mary are also the center of focus. The presence of the Holy family, with the artist, alludes to superior nature of the artist’s inspiration: according to Volk, “depictions of Saint Luke painting the Virgin traditionally contained claims to the inspired character of painters and alluded to their divine ordination” (Volk 75). In fact, Saint Luke, the Patron Saint of all painters, seeks inspiration from the divine figures of Jesus and Mary. Because of Velazquez’s allusion to the painting St. Luke Painting the Virgin, as well as the divinely-inspired creation that it implies, Volk argues that Velazquez attempts communicate the higher status of all artistic creations.
The intricate composition of Las Meninas: an art, not a craft
Velazquez also supports the argument of his fellow painters stating that art is a form of intellectual pursuit, by conferring a enigmatic composition and the various possible interpretations to his masterpiece (see Annexe 2). At a first glance, the painting seems to have depicted a snapshot of the Spanish royal life: the Princess Margarita, daughter of King Philipp the IV, is being attended by her two maids of honour. A closer look at the painting reveals the presence of a painter, Velazquez himself, at the back of the room, working on a large wooden canvas. Paintings hung on the wall serve as the only decorations in the room. Their darker tones contrast with the reflective material of a mirror within them. Two figures, physically absent from the viewer’s visual field, are reflected in the mirror. Their direct glance at the mirror indicates that they are physically close to the viewer. These two figures are the Queen and King of Spain, posing in front of Velazquez and his canvas for their royal portrait. Their daughter has just got her portrait done, or is about to do so. Towards the right of the scene, Velazquez depicted two dwarfs, remarked by their spontaneous gestures, especially with the young boy teasing the dog. Because of the painting’s vividness, its narrative quality, as well as the interconnectedness between the painter, the King, the Queen, and the princess, Las Meninas is recognized as an outstanding work of art. According to Peter Pelzer, from Frankfurt University, Las Meninas has exceeded the realms of pure craftsmanship: “there is a markable agreement about the quality of the painting and that Velásquez’s intention of it as demonstration by means of its size, technique and complex composition, that, as a painter, he was far more than a simple craftsman is accomplished” (Pelzer, p71). Thus, Velazquez, by painting his “brilliant, profound, and, above all, inexhaustible painting” (“Painting Power” 39), sets the distinction between the intellectual pursuit of a painter versus the trading profession of a craftsman.
3. Velazquez’s personal desire to ascend social hierarchy
Detail of the Cross: a be-knighted painter
Las Meninas, besides being a claim for the nobility of the act of painting, is also a claim of nobility of the artist himself. The detail of the cross on Velazquez’ outfit is one representation of the painter’s aspiration for higher status. In fact, the cross was an emblem of the Order of Santiago, one of the three highest orders of Spain granting knighthood (Pelzer 70). At the time he painted Las Meninas, Velazquez was not yet a member of the order, so was not eligible to wear the cross. In fact, during his lifetime, Velazquez struggled to elevate himself to the rank of nobility, due to the mechanical nature — involving working with his hands — of his profession (Pelzer 71). In order to gain admission to the Order of Santiago, Velazquez had to first establish the purity of his blood ( as no Jews or Moors were admitted), then, proclaim his aristocratic ancestry, and had to prove the non-business nature of his profession: “more than hundred witnesses had to confirm that he had never painted for money, but only for the delight of the king” (Hagen & Hagen, 421). As a result of the struggle Velazquez had undergone, he finally became member of the Order three years after the completion of Las Meninas. The detail of the cross had actually been added to the painting after his death , in recognition of the social status that he ha finally achieved (Davies, 694).
Velazquez’s self-depiction with the royal family: an artist respected by the Crown
In Las Meninas, Velazquez represented himself alongside the queen, the king, and the princess. The presence of these important individuals asserts Velazquez high social position as a royal painter (Davies & al, 693). As the appointed portrait painter to King Philip IV, the painter’s duty was not merely artistic, but also political. Because many of the king’s portraits were sent abroad as diplomatic tools, Velazquez not only had to record the features of the King, but had to ensure that it is done with decorum, so to project a good image of the king to his political allies. He was, in effect, the “guardian of the king’s image.” (“Painting Power” 39). In addition to Velazquez’ political duty, he was also granted with many privileges by the King. In fact, the King enlisted him within a small group of close servants exempted from military service and taxation: “In the enumeration of all intimate servants of the royal house, the name of Diego Velazquez stands eleventh” (Mary Volk, 84). Hence, it can be inferred that Velazquez’ physical proximity with the family, in the painter, reflects the actual intimate relationship he was entertaining with his powerful patrons.
Conclusion
It can be argued that Velazquez’ masterpiece, Las Meninas, pleaded for the professional advancement of painters in society, as well as the royal painter personal success at the Spanish Court. On one hand, through its subtle allusion to the divine inspiration of artists, as well as its intricate composition, Las Meninas served as an advocacy for a better recognition of the painting profession. On the other hand, Velazquez’ self portrayal, wearing the Cross of the Order of Santiago, as well as his proximity, on the painting and in real life, to the royal family, confirmed Velazquez’ status as a member of aristocracy. Through Las Meninas, it can be seen that during the 16th century, art started to be an expression of the artist’s personality and beliefs. It is, nowadays, much more common for an artist to do so, and such is the case for 20th century painter Pablo Picasso, also including social commentary in his art, only this time, in a cubist version of Las Meninas.
Annexes:
Annexe 1. Roger van der Weyden( ?), Saint Luke Painting the Virgin. 1435–40. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts (photo: Museum). (Volk, p75, figure 7)
Annexe 2: Velazquez, Las Meninas. Madrid, 1656. Museo del Prado. (photo:Prado) (Volk, p71, figure 1)
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Image Source
Volk, Mary Crawford. “On Velazquez and the Liberal Arts.” Art Bulletin 60.1 (1978):69. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.
