Art History Guide

Artists and critics around the world polled in to vote Diego Velazquez’s “Las Meninas” as world’s greatest painting in 1985. Wow, what a Velazquez week treat.

This painting, done in 1656 in Prado, Madrid, means “The Maids of Honor.” It consists of a five-year-old princess named Margarita, a few ladies in waiting, two dwarves, a dog, a mirrored reflection of the king and queen, a full-length portrait of a court official, and the artist himself.

The composition might seem a little messy, but he uses a structure of over lapping triangles. The upper half of the group portrait is filled with a range of shadow and light, creating the illusion of depth and space. He also uses verticals and horizontals to keep the eye steady.

So what were the nine runners up in this poll? 2) Vermeer’s “View of Delft“; 3) Giorgione’s “The Tempest“; 4) Botticelli’s “La Primavera“; 5) Frencesca’s “The Resurrection“; 6) El Greco’s “The Burial of the Count Orgaz“; 7) Giotto’s “The Lamentation“; 8 ) Grunewald’s “The Isenheim Altarpiece“; 9) Picasso’s “Guernica“; 10) [tag]Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son”

Velazquez’s, Las Meninas, painting, dwarves, Vermeer, View of Delft, Giorgione, The Tempest, Botticelli, La Primavera, Frencesca, The Resurrection, El Greco, The Burial of the Count Orgaz, Giotto, The Lamentation, Grunewald, The Isenheim Altarpiece, Picasso, Guernica“; 10) [tag]Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son