Delante de Las meninas

138 x 210 mm
256 pages (includes 95 pencil reproductions by the author)
Design: Setanta
Letra Caniche Collection

A life-size replica of Las Meninas was installed in the living room of a small Madrid apartment in Tirso de Molina square. For eight years, Emilio Cendón, who studied Fine Arts but decided to abandon all artistic practice, lived with Infanta Margarita, Diego Velázquez, and the kings in the mirror, trying to understand why the Sevillian painter dedicated the final years of his life to a painting that, on the surface, seems to depict nothing more than a minor palace scene.

Through the study of Velázquez’s earlier works, the testimony of his written descriptions of the art collected by the Spanish court—such as Tintoretto and Veronese’s works—and the analysis of pieces by other artists like Leonardo and Van Eyck, the author embarks on a fascinating and obsessive, almost detective-like investigation. He ties together clues and offers us insights into the mind of a genius whose influence on contemporary art is immense, ultimately allowing us to understand why and for whom Velázquez painted Las Meninas.

This personal and non-academic book is also a chronicle of those years spent in the company of Las Meninas, as well as of the travels undertaken to uncover its secrets. Filled with the author’s meticulous pencil reproductions, this work will inspire readers with an uncontrollable urge to visit El Escorial, Milan, London, and, above all, to return to the Prado Museum to stand before Las Meninas... and see everything change.

Emilio Cendón (Vigo, 1977) studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country and began a career as an artist. In 2012, he decided to abandon all artistic practice, and since then, he has worked as a real estate photographer. In 2016, his obsession with Diego Velázquez began to emerge, initiating a quest to answer multiple questions about the painter’s work. Delante de Las Meninas is his first book and marks his return to the world of creation