When mentioning the golden age of Spanish culture, first of all, names like Miguel de Cervantes and Diego Velazquez are recalled . Velazquez's paintings adorn the exhibition halls of Russia, Britain, the USA, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Austria and, understandably, Spain.
Velazquez's place in world painting
Japanese engineers invented a machine that calculated which of the world's artists has the greatest weight and significance for humanity. She scored many different categories. Rafael scored the most points in all categories. He took first place. The second was taken by the Spanish painter of the 17th century Diego Velazquez. His paintings are stored in the most famous museums in the world. Three canvases are in the State Hermitage Museum, however, one is with controversial attribution.
In this article, we will dwell in detail only on two works that were written by the late Velazquez - paintings with the names "Menin" and "Strands". They are presented in the bottom two photos.
The heyday of the Spanish Empire
Velazquez was born in 1599, and died in 1660. This is the period when Spain ruled the world. The borders of the empire extended far beyond the limits of one continent. In addition to the colonies in Europe, Spain ruled over territories located on the American continents, in Africa, Asia and Oceania. The process of capturing and annexing land took place so quickly that to keep control over them became a big problem and the main task of the Habsburgs. The development of the colonies, the assertion of dominance over them, the establishment of new rules in the annexed territories surprisingly affected the way of life of old Spain. There were new secular rituals, a fashion for fettering clothing, politically based incestuous dynastic marriages.
The magic of two later works
We could not learn and understand a lot of interesting things about the era if it were not for Velazquez. The artworks shed light on many interesting facts from the life of the Spanish nobility and the common people of that time. They encrypted and details of the biography of the artist himself. In this context, two works that Diego Velazquez painted in 1656 and 1657, paintings “Meninas” (“The Maids of Honor”) and “Straights, or The Myth of Arachne” (“Santa Isabel Tapestry Factory in Madrid”) are extremely interesting in this context.
The visual-psychological effect produced on people by the named canvases, the natural size of which is 318x276 and 222.5x293, can be defined by the word "creepy". The best reproductions do not give an objective idea of what these two pictures are in reality. Velázquez’s description of the infante Margarita with her retinue in the first case and the company directly in the second create the illusion of the audience in the artist’s studio or in the spinning mill.
The manner of work of the great Spaniard
Velazquez painted in a special manner. He practically did not do extra strokes, sketches, sketches. He carried out this fussy job in his head. Therefore, many had the impression that he did not strain at all. He stands, looks, resembles, drinks water ... Maybe he forgot about work? Not at all. He returns to the easel and makes a few confident strokes. His plan becomes apparent only after completion of the work. Not even that. His paintings are very diverse. They can be understood indefinitely - too many meanings are hidden in them.
"Menin"
Art historians believe that Velazquez portrayed himself in this picture. Some argue that he is the person who stands behind the easel and holds a brush and a palette in his hands. Others are sure: Velazquez is a man in the doorway. Who is right and why did this confrontation arise?
The fact is that the artist in the picture on his chest has the cross of the Order of Sant Iago, and Velazquez did not have it then. He could not paint it either before the appropriation, or after. Before - this is unethical, after - impossible, since the picture did not belong to him anymore. If we assume that Philip himself painted the cross for him, then this still does not fit into the concept of the picture. Imagine it without this red sign - the balance of the whole image is disturbed, the weight of the picture rushes to the upper left corner. The master of composition could not allow such a mistake.
Also, pay attention to the palette. If the person holding it in his hand draws what is in front of him, then why the colors of the colors do not match? Suppose this is Velasquez himself, painting a portrait of the royal couple? But it is known for certain - Velazquez never had a picture where Philip is depicted with his wife, Marianne of Austria.
Who does this artist draw? What do those who hold the point of view say that Velazquez himself and a man surrounded by light in the doorway are one and the same person?
First, follow the directions of the hands of the dwarfs, the inclination of the heads of the maid of honor and the infant, extend the line of the palette - they converge on a person in the doorway.
Secondly, if you imagine that a person has a brush in the doorway, and outside the picture, where the king and queen are, and where the viewer is, that is, you and I, hang a large mirror, then the reflection will correspond exactly all that is depicted in the picture.
Thirdly, do not forget that the picture is very large. So, if you carefully examine the face, you can see that this person is very similar to the man from the "Portrait of a Young Man", "Breakfast", the Roman portrait and the "Surrender of Delirium", only at different ages. What was the point of Velasquez so diligently composing the plot to write, even a high-ranking, but only a court? It turns out that the king with the queen and the infante pose for the sake of his subject? Absurd.
And further. Initially, Infanta Maria Teresa was depicted near the easel, and a grand with a brush peeked over her shoulder. To erase the infant and portray himself with a nonexistent order, in a pose that is very proud and unnatural for the painter, and those present here posing for Philip and Margarita are only distant reflections in the mirror? Is it possible?
Refined revenge?
It seems that the artist laughed at a certain grand, exposing him as a person engaged in the work of a painter, which is shameful for the nobleman. The court intrigues, envy and meanness of the nobles could force Velazquez to come up with such a plot for the group portrait of the infante Margarita, whom he loved very much, often painted and portrayed in this picture with great love. She is very sweet. The girl is only five years old, but the signs of degeneration - a consequence of family marriages - are already noticeable: a rickety forehead, loose hair, large transparent eyes. So that this would not catch the eye and cause dislike, Velazquez placed next to the girl her teacher - dwarf Marie Barbola.
It’s a great honor to be in the same picture with royal monks, but to be captured in the role of the person performing the despised mechanical work of the painter is an indelible disgrace for the grand and all his descendants. The dilemma ... Such is Velasquez’s revenge on the courtier, who was repairing his machinations from envy to a brilliant career, because the artist, among other things, is also the Quartermaster of His Majesty’s Palace.
"Spin"
What can be said about the next painting, which was written at the sunset of life by 58-year-old Velazquez? “Strands” (the description of the painting deserves much attention, since it depicts only women) - this is a portrait of the artist’s three beloved women. They are depicted in the foreground, in the center of the picture. The myth of Arachne, surpassing Athena's skill and turned into a spider for this, is strangely projected onto women who have played a very large, perhaps the main role in the artist's life. A high-ranking courtier, a nobleman whose family begins with Aeneas Silvius, a former grandson of the ancestor of the Romans, is a knight, the cleverest man ... But first of all, Velazquez is an artist. The paintings created by him contain a great many mysteries, but they also contain the answers to them.
Love in the fate of the painter
Why are these women in simple dresses, without beautiful corsets, crinolines and flat collars? He does not want them to feel constrained by the uncomfortable fashion clothes of those years? He is dear to their health and well-being? Or maybe he shows that they are free and so happy that they may not seek to meet the strict requirements of etiquette? Are they more powerful than the gods since they brought him to the pinnacle of fame and career? Probably. But, like Arachne, he is turned into an insect and, like him, always weaving a cobweb, he must be chained to the royal court with his eternal undercover intrigues, cunning, intrigues until his death. And there is no end to this, and there is no peace. This is only one of the interpretations of the plot of the picture, which he wrote three years before the death of Velazquez.
His paintings in the late period are full of secrets that are very interesting to solve. They are pushing for the study of history, and this is a very useful activity.