Velasquez: Les Meninas (1656)
Whilst browsing through a list of what are considered great paintings, I came across this one. I must admit I find some of the old masters a bit dull and dark but Las Meninas caught my attention straight away. I stopped scrolling through the pictures as soon as I got to it because at first glance the whole thing unnerved me and it took me a second or two to realise why. It's the fact that the subjects in the painting are all staring out at me/you. It's as if they have all suddenly stopped what they are doing to turn and look at me/you. Freaky, I thought.
But then it was more than that. Something else didn't feel quite as it ought to. At first I took the back wall to show another painting but why was it lit so much more than all the others on the wall? It's supposed to be a mirror, but what is it reflecting? I've read that it's probably the reflection of the painting that the artist to the left of the picture is working on, supposedly the King and Queen. So, does that mean me/you is the King or Queen? But then the mirror does not feel aligned correctly, so I'm not really sure what part me/you is playing, but it sure has them interested.
Van Eyck: Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (1434)
I came to this painting also. The discarded shoes caught my eye first of all, but then I started to examine the picture closer. I thought the woman seemed incredibly young, a child still, but I guess they married a lot younger in those days. But the more you look into the painting, the deeper into it you are drawn, and the mirror (yes, another one) in the centre of the painting blew me away. The attention to detail is amazing in this. You can see their reflection in the mirror and beyond them, again you see the viewer of the characters - me/you/the viewer? Probably not in this case but it's a similar effect to the previous painting, but not quite so unnerving. The detailing doesn't stop there - around the mirror are tiny circles and in each circle is yet another painting. Wow.
(Pics: http://www.listology.com/lukeprog/list/100-greatest-paintings-all-time-pics and http://www.all-art.org/baroque/portrait3.html)
