Las Meninas and Allegory of Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Las Meninas and Allegory of Painting - Essay Example The essay "Las Meninas and Allegory of Painting" compares Diego Velasquez's 'Las Meninas' and Jan Vermeer's 'The Allegory of Painting'. These two paintings are clearly Baroque art pieces. Las Meninas was made on 1656 and The Allegory of Painting was made on 1666 to 1668. Their subjects are slices of life, one in the castle and one in a non-specific room. Both paintings use light and shadow very well, providing depth and dimension to both paintings. Both evoke the same feelings of the viewer being in the room with the subjects, as the paintings are all open. However, they are also indifferent at the same time. They both have the element of mystery. They also feature the painter character in the painting. In Las Meninas, it is clearly identified that that character was Velazquez but in The Allegory of Painting, the painter is turned back, so positive identification of the subject is impossible. Both paintings tackle everyday life. In Las Meninas, it features the scene in the castle. Ac cording to various literature, it is in a room of the palace of King Philip IV of Spain. There are many characters in it, like the young Princess Infanta Margarita Teresa together with her maids of honor, chaperone, bodyguard and two dwarfs. However, there is the mirror element at the back wall of the room reflecting the images of the King and Queen of Spain. That implies that the painter is painting the King and Queen, and that the King and Queen are in the place of the viewer, out of the painted space.