Voces del Prado

Las Meninas and the aerial perspective

Alicia Quintana Martínez, Head of the Education Service, 1983-2007

Going into the hall of Las Meninas when the Museum was closed was something impressive. I once had to show around a group of very young children who had won a prize, "What a king is for you", and they took them to Parliament and then here to the Museum, and the teacher, or whoever was with them, said when we were in front of Las Meninas: "Tell them about aerial perspective," and I said. "To these youngsters?" "Yes, of course. You should know how to do it." So I looked at them and said to them: "Let's see, there's a double hamburger and a two-litre Coke for the one who can tell me if the man on the ladder in the back is wearing shoes with buckles or shoe laces." One of them answers: "I can't see it." I tell him: "I'd better call your dad so that he can take you to the eye doctor. What do you mean by you can't see it? Why can't you see it?" And he says: "Because it's far away." Then I move near the wall and ask, "Far away?" "What a cheater," said the little one. That one found out what aerial perspective was, because all the air didn't let him see, because it was far away. It's like when you see a bus coming, and you have to wait till it's close enough to see whether it's number 14 or 27, and it's not a matter of seeing better, but there is something in between that doesn't let you have a clean view.