Diego Velázquez: King Philip IV Of Spain

Page
1
of 2

ZOOM

Diego Velázquez and Pablo Picasso were two of Spain’s incredible artists. However, their artwork was drastically different. Picasso was a cubism artist. He createdhis art with lots of shapes, specifically cubes. Velázquez was King Philip IV of Spain's official painter. He painted realistic portraits for the royal family to capture historical events. In 1656, Velázquez painted, Las meninas, which translates to, Lady in waiting. The main focus of Las meninas is the princess, however, Velázquez chose his title based off of the ladies in waiting that were assisting to the princess. Years later, Pablo Picasso began interpreting Velázquez painting, Las meninas. Picasso made 58 interpretations of Las meninas that were
Picasso makes the princess look cartoony and boxy. Another difference is the setting of the painting. Picasso did not include the setting of the original Las meninas. When Velázquez painted Las meninas, ithad a very interesting setting. We saw lots of paintings that were hung in a dark room. Velázquez painted himself into the painting. In Las meninas,Velázquez is painting. These features of setting were not included in Picasso’s interpretation of Las meninas. All of these differences show that Picasso and Velázquez have different styles of painting. Although there are many differences between the two paintings, there are still similarities. Both the original Las meninas painting, and Picasso’s interpretation include the princess. Both of the paintings also have the the princess wearing the same dress. Another similarity between these two paintings is that they both have dark backgrounds.They highlight the people, not the background. Picasso and Velázquez both include a lady caring for the princess. Velázquez was the royalties portrait painter. I believe that he painted Las meninas to portray what happens behind the scenes in the castle. He included all of the ladies in waiting assisting the princess which shows the preparation the
I believe that Velázquez created Las meninas as another painting for the royal family, but instead of focusing in on the Queen and King, he chose to highlight the princess and her attendants. Perhaps that princess was preparing for an event that was particularly important to the child. Instead of highlighting just the royalty, Velázquez chose to incorporate the ladies in waiting. This captures the team that works to prepare the princess for an event. I think that Picasso chose to interpret Las meninas, because it will allow him to get more ideas for his next painting. He may have also chose to interpret Las meninas because he liked the painting, and wanted to add his own twist to it. Picasso and Velázquez are both incredible artists, that have made some spectacular pieces. Though their art may be very different, it can still have similarities. Both Picasso and Velázquez shared Sources: