LAS MENINAS: ANALYSIS OF THE VELÁZQUEZ WORK AND SOME READINGS

Abstract

We are constantly surrounded by images, although we often do not look at them
with a reflective eye. This article brings a reflection on image reading, how it can be
conceived and understood as a text, something that can be decoded, read and interpreted.
For this, we seek a basis in the ideas of some authors such as: Santaella (2005) and
Charaudeau (2012), on the question of sign in visual language and communication; Ricoeur
(1997), bringing the perspective of narrative and time in the poetics of the image; Durand
(2002) and the symbolic imaginary; Hall (2016) and representations through language,
among others. To exemplify, we compare the work of Velázquez, Las meninas, with some
reinterpretations of the same work done by Picasso, showing how one can interpret a work
of art through artistic making, with the intention that rereading is not copying, because the
signs that are present in the work are open to interpretation.