Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1905 — Story of “Las Meninas.” [ARTICLE]

Story of “Las Meninas.”

The story of “Las Meninas” is that Velasquez was painting a portrait of the Spanish king and queen (who sat where the spectator is when he looks at the picture). Their little daughter, the Infanta Margarita, came in with her maids of honor, her dog, and her dwarfs, and accompanied b/ her duenna and a courtier. The little princess asks for a drink of water; a maid of honor hands it to her with the elaborate etiquette prescribed by the formalities of the “most rigidly ceremonious court in Europe. The scene presented so charming a picture that the king desired Velasquez to paint it. The artist has included himself in the group, at work upon a large canvas on which it is supposed he was painting a portrait of the king and queen when tlie interruption occurred. The reflection of the king and queen appears in the mirror at the end of the room, and the chamberlain. Don Jose Nieto, stands outside the door, drawing the curt'ain. The scene is, indeed, represented with such wonderful realism that a famous French critic said of it: “So complete is the illusion that, standing in front of 'Las Meninas,’ one is tempted to'aslc, 'Where is the picture?’ ” —St. Nicholas.