The Rokeby Venus Poster Print by Diego Velazquez (24 x 18)

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Commissioned by Philip, the painting was hung in his private office at his summer palace. Until 1819 it remained in the royal palace, after which time it went into the collection of the Prado Museum. Much of what we know about the painting is owed to Spanish writer Antonio Palomino, who dedicated an entire section of his book on Spanish artists to Las Meninas. He not only gave the year that the painting was created, but also identified most of the people within the canvas. It's also thanks to Palomino that we know that it shows a room located within the Royal Alcázar. This fortress turned palace was the seat of the Habsburg rulers. The spatial structure and positioning of the mirror's reflection are such that PhilipIV and Mariana appear to be standing on the viewer's side of the pictorial space, facing the Infanta and her entourage. According to Janson, not only is the gathering of figures in the foreground for Philip and Mariana's benefit, but the painter's attention is concentrated on the couple, as he appears to be working on their portrait. [34] Although they can only be seen in the mirror reflection, their distant image occupies a central position in the canvas, in terms of social hierarchy as well as composition. As spectators, the viewer's position in relation to the painting is uncertain. It has been debated whether the ruling couple are standing beside the viewer or have replaced the viewer, who sees the scene through their eyes. Lending weight to the latter idea are the gazes of three of the figures—Velázquez, the Infanta, and Maribarbola—who appear to be looking directly at the viewer. [55] Gower, Ronald Sutherland (1900). Sir Thomas Lawrence. London, Paris & New York: Goupil & co. p. 83.

In 17th-century Spain, painters rarely enjoyed high social status. Painting was regarded as a craft, not an art such as poetry or music. [7] Nonetheless, Velázquez worked his way up through the ranks of the court of PhilipIV, and in February 1651 was appointed palace chamberlain ( aposentador mayor del palacio). The post brought him status and material reward, but its duties made heavy demands on his time. During the remaining eight years of his life, he painted only a few works, mostly portraits of the royal family. [8] When he painted Las Meninas, he had been with the royal household for 33 years. From February 1650, Philip repeatedly sought Velázquez's return to Spain. [57] Accordingly, after visiting Naples—where he saw his old friend Jose Ribera—and Venice, Velázquez returned to Spain via Barcelona in 1651, taking with him many pictures and 300 pieces of statuary, which afterwards were arranged and catalogued for the king.

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While it's certainly not uncommon for artists to include themselves in paintings—Raphael featured himself in The School of Athens—Velázquez gives his self-portrait a prominent position in the painting. Not only does Las Meninastake place within his painting studio at the Alcázar, but everything in the work revolves around the painter's actions. Working not only as court painter but also as the curator of Philip's expansive art collection, Velázquez's role was vital to the court's cultural life. Here, the Spanish painter shows himself in front of a canvas working on a portrait of the royal couple. However, the focal point of the painting is widely debated. Leo Steinberg argues that the orthogonals in the work are intentionally disguised so that the picture's focal center shifts. Similar to Lopez-Rey, he describes three foci. The man in the doorway, however, is the vanishing point. More specifically, the crook of his arm is where the orthogonals of the windows and lights of the ceiling meet. [45] MacLaren, Neil (1970). The Spanish School, National Gallery Catalogues. Revised by Allan Braham. London: National Gallery. ISBN 978-0-947645-46-5. Gaggi, Silvio (1989). Modern/Postmodern: A Study in Twentieth-century Arts and Ideas. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1384-3.

Although acquainted with all the Italian schools and a friend of the foremost painters of his day, Velázquez was strong enough to withstand external influences and work out for himself the development of his own nature and his own principles of art. He rejected the pomp that characterized the portraiture of other European courts, and instead brought an even greater reserve to the understated formula for Habsburg portraiture established by Titian, Antonio Mor, and Alonso Sánchez Coello. [67] He is known for using a rather limited palette, but he mixed the available paints with great skill to achieve varying hues. [68] His pigments were not significantly different from those of his contemporaries and he mainly employed azurite, smalt, vermilion, red lake, lead-tin-yellow and ochres. [69] His early works were painted on canvases prepared with a red-brown ground. He adopted the use of light-gray grounds during his first trip to Italy, and continued using them for the rest of his life. [70] The change resulted in paintings with greater luminosity and a generally cool, silvery range of color. [71]Yale uncovers Velazquez in basement storage". CBC News. July 3, 2010. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010 . Retrieved December 22, 2010. Relationship between Queen Sofia of Spain and Velazquez". Europeandynasties.com . Retrieved December 22, 2010. a b c Records of 1735 show that the original frame was lost during the painting's rescue from the fire. The appraisal of 1747–48 makes reference to the painting having been "lately restored". [16]

Museo del Prado (1996). Museo del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas[ Prado Museum, Catalog of paintings] (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid. ISBN 978-84-7483-410-9. Arya, Rina (2009). "Painting the Pope: An Analysis of Francis Bacon's Study After Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X". Literature and Theology, 23 (1), 33–50. a b "Velázquez, Diego" [ dead link] (US) and "Velázquez, Diego". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. [ permanent dead link] Maria Theresa was by then queen of France as wife of Louis XIV of France. Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias, was born the following year, but died at four, shortly before his brother CharlesII was born. One daughter from this marriage, and five from Philip's first marriage, had died in infancy. Honour, Hugh; Fleming, John (1982). A World History of Art. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-85669-451-3.There was much difficulty in adjusting the tangled accounts outstanding between Velázquez and the treasury, and it was not until 1666, after the death of King Philip, that they were finally settled.