Las Meninas of los Plebeyos

Las Meninas (ladies-in-waiting) is one of the most, if not the top admired paintings in the Prado gallery in Madrid. Painted by Velazquez, the court painter of King Philip IV in 1656, it depicts the chamber scene in the Madrid Alcazar with the Royal Family and its entourage, along with the self-portrait of the painter himself.

The first photo in this post is however not of the painting by Velazquez, but that by John Singer Sargent, an American expatriate painter, based on the original painting in the Prado. This painting is done in 1879 and is currently in the temporary exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in DC. Sargent reportedly spent some time in the Prado, working on this painting.

The second photo represents the original Velazquez painting, at least, my rendition of it. My one frivolous interpretation of this photo is that it continues with the trick that Velazquez played with the viewers. He didn’t paint the Royal couple directly in the painting, but instead painted their reflections in the background mirror. Viewers are therefore forced to conclude that the painting within Velazquez’s painting is of the Royal couple, even though Velazquez has not revealed his painting to the viewer. In a similar brush stroke, I am therefore asking the viewer to imagine the original painting based on Sargent’s painting. My photo therefore intentionally depicts a dark background, common in Velazquez’s paintings.

The real reason for my photo however is that I couldn’t take the picture of the original painting in Prado, because visitors are not allowed to. This is the case even for taking photos without a flash. My rendition, therefore, is my small protest against this policy.

I am not an art critic or professional by any means. However, social media offers someone like me to express his impressions through small creative ways like juxtaposing and comparing different renditions of art or architecture to find similarities and contrast in patterns, as in this case. I believe that social media thus provides a useful awareness and advertising platform for museums, galleries, and cities they reside in, free of any costs, however garish or trite the platform content many times is. By denying the ability to take and reuse art pictures for the commoners in this mode, the museum administration is forgoing the opportunity for further interpretation and mico-creativity from its art, however wonted the commoners’ actions are.