Las meninas.

LAS MENINAS

Painting card

Name: Las meninas.

Author: Diego Velázquez.

Year: 1656.

Style: Baroque.

Technique: Oil on canvas

Location : Prado museum, Madrid.

General description: Las meninas is a painting from the spanish Diego Velázquez, it was created in 1656, the technique used is oil on canvas. It represent how the real maid servants (meninas), are serving Margarita María Teresa de Austria,daughter of Felipe IV and Mariana de Austria.

“Las meninas” was created by Diego de Velázquez and his style is baroque , a style that was given in europe between XVII century and a little of XVIII century. 

The baroque period was a period of decline for society, It was some wars, It had poor, but in the culture was a very important period, that predominated the realism and naturalism .
This painting have some curious things, for example we can see the painter Velázquez in the picture and also we can see a picture of Felipe IV and Mariana de Austria.
The technique used is oil on canvas with dimensions of 318 cm × 276 cm. The use of perspective is linear and the light are from front to back, this produce some darks behind, also it is claroscuro. The colours are cold colours and not with some variety. 

The compositions is pyramidal, from the people to the roof.
The function is political because represent the infanta and the meninas and it is historical because represent a real scene from baroque.
The figures are so realistic and naturalistic, typic from baroque.
This picture it one of the most important from baroque in spain and in all world, but it had other good baroque painters like Caravaggio or Rembrandt.


In my opinion, Velázquez was one of the most important baroque picture from baroque and it is normal because the realistic and the naturalistic that he putted in the paintings, it so awesome.