#velazqueztech

3:53 p.m.

On Calle de Atocha 12, in the heart of Madrid, you'll find Velázquez Tech El Museo, a space that brings us closer to the painting Las Meninas, by Diego Velázquez (Spain, 1599-1660), through a sensory experience.

By linking art and technology, it seeks to awaken the interest in the classic works of the new generations, introducing them into the world of the seventeenth century artist through an overwhelming offer of special effects.

Let us remember that The Family of Felipe IV, thus the name of painting, arrives at the Museo del Prado 200 years after it was made and inexplicably changes its name to Las Meninas (definition reserved for the ladies-in-waiting of the Infanta). The mystery that surrounds the work is still indecipherable today and although in this museum a voiceover asks Velázquez's hologram each and every one of the doubts that arise from the painting, nothing is truly revealed, since all the answers are quite ambiguous.

Velázquez Tech El Museo

As we said, a hologram of Velázquez explains each of characters in the painting, as well as how the space that surrounds them was built and the inclusion of the kings as spectators in the scene. At the same time, in several scenes the audience is reflected (as if we were the kings) and we are even told to take our own selfie with the character.

Another of the rooms displays dozens of representations of the Infanta Margarita, on which representative scenes of a word are projected, such as Freedom, Entertainment, Love, etc.

Velázquez Tech El Museo

The tour continues with appropriations of the Infanta by other iconic artists to wrap up with a video in an immersive area in tone with the playfulness of the entire experience. We see how this fulfills the aim of the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer, who stated that "one of the fundamental impulses of modern art is to cancel the distance that mediates between the audience, consumers or the public and the work." This is achieved in many works of modern and contemporary art, but how to cancel the distance between a classic work like Las Meninas and the public…? Through technology, of course.

Vista general de la sala de las apropiaciones