In both paintings, light and dark play a significant role. The first painting, Los Meninas, which is also known as “The Maids of Honor,” is painted by Diego Velasquez during the Spanish Baroque Period. Velazquez is considered the “key artist” of this period due to his mastery of form and content, for example his mastery of “optical realism,” which is the portrayal of the effects of light hitting an object, an obvious evidence in Las Meninas. He also uses “tenebrism,” in which the painting is in a dark manner, predominantly bla

After comparing and contrasting the two paintings and learning the history behind them, I come to appreciate the beauty of the paintings more. It gave me a different perspective and I have an additional insight on what the painters may have been thinking.

Though both paintings were painted during the same period, they have distinct differences. Las Meninas is an example of a genre scene, that is, it depicts everyday life. The artwork shows a family getting dressed or ready for some event. The Allegory of the Outbreak of War is an example of propaganda because it is trying to convey a political message, for example the lady in black on the left side of the painting depicts Europe, which has suffered from the miseries of war. This painting also uses a lot of iconography in that everything has a symbolic meaning, for instance the monsters symbolize plague and famine, which comes along with war. I believe Paul was trying to give us a message through his painting by showing us the bad side of war and what comes with war. Another difference is that the people in Allegory of the Outbreak of War are in mid action or extreme position where as in the Las Meninas they are in a more standing

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