Las Meninas

Las Meninas (1656) by Diego Velázquez. Its palette is led by warm black (#1b150d, 68%) and bistre (#352816, 18%), with accents of light sand. Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.

Color note

Velázquez worked from a restrained palette of earth colors, lead white, vermilion and blacks, and was admired for his silvery greys. Manet, who studied him in Madrid, called him the painter of painters.

Palette

#1b150d MG 220 warm black 68.5% of canvas
#352816 MG 219 bistre 18.0% of canvas
#6a4e2f MG 167 brown 6.0% of canvas
#8a613e MG 161 rich scarlet brown 5.8% of canvas
#b19c78 MG 181 light sand 1.7% of canvas

Color families

Black 70%, Brown 30%, Orange 0%, Yellow 0%, White 0%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.24
Contrast: 0.41
Vividness: 0.016
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 109 cells
Hue range: 0.30
Focus: 0.15

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the left half, 72% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.31 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 54% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 21% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1656
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 318.0 × 276.0 cm
Genre: group portrait
Made in: Spain
Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid

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