He utilizado este texto para el pequeño PROYECTO sobre “Las Meninas” de Velazquez , con la intención de que la clase de inglés conecte las clases de historia con las clases de arte. Al mismo tiempo es un ejercicio de comprensión y de expresión escrita. El texto no es mío, lo encontré hace tiempo y ahora lo he adaptado para mis alumnos, añadiendo las preguntas para la comprensión.
Las Meninas (The Ladies-in-waiting or The Maids of Honour) was painted in 1656 by Diego Velazquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. It´s now in Madrid, in the Museum of Prado.
Las Meninas shows a large room in the Madrid palace of King Philip IV of Spain. Several people are in the painting, and we know who they are. Some are looking at one another and others are looking out from the painting at the viewer (the person who is looking at the painting).
The person who stands in the middle is the infanta Margarita Teresa (the princess, daughter of the king and the queen). She has two maids of honour, one of each side of her. There is also a chaperone, a bodyguard, a dwarf, a boy and a dog. Velazquez has also painted himself, standing just behind the princess and her companions. He is at the artist´s easel. He has just stopped painting for a moment and is looking straight at the viewer. At the back of the room there is a mirror in which we can see king Philip IV and queen Mariana of Austria. This means that the king and the queen are the viewers who are looking at the painting. Is Velazquez painting them? Or have they just entered the room?
Diego Velazquez was very famous in his lifetime. He painted portraits of several members of royal family at the Spanish Court. Philip himself didn’t like being painted when he was old, but he allowed Velazquez to include him in Las Meninas. He often sat and watched the painter at work in his studio.
Las Meninas is one of the most profound and enigmatic paintings in the world.There are still questions without an answer. One of them is: who is Velazquez painting?
Some of the experts think, he is painting us!!!
Pablo Picasso, another famous painter, was so enchanted by this painting that he played with it over and over again, and he made a series of 58 paintings titled collectively Las Meninas. He changed the light, the colours, and substituted the original mastiff for his own dog, the beloved Lump. All the paintings are in the Museum of Picasso in Barcelona.
Do the same as Picasso.Paint your own version of Las Meninas. Include all the characters and maintain its structure. Use colour. The rest is up to you…
Read your text again and answer the questions:
- In which century was the picture “Las Meninas “ painted?
- Where can you see it now?
- Who are the people in the painting? Name 3 of them.
- How old is Princess Margarita Teresa in this painting? Do you know anything else about her?
- What do you think Velazquez is painting?
- What breed is the dog?
- Who are the people in the mirror?
- Why is “Las Meninas”considered one of the most interesting paintings ever painted?
- Why do we know Picasso liked the painting?
- Which of the characters would you like to be? Why?
