LAS MENINAS 2.0
By Nancy Polo
In 2016 parents are busy. The job of raising children may not exactly compare to ruling a country. There are, however, many more roles a parent must play to ensure a child’s success. We have become regent, chaperone, artist, guardian and chamberlain to our most precious assets. We marshall all of our resources to prepare them for an increasingly complicated world. Negotiating the labyrinth of modern childhood can feel like a hall of mirrors. Our constant companions are often only reflections of reality. Magnified through social media, other parents and children can heighten our anxieties in facing the challenges of educating and nurturing the next generation. The parents in Velázquez’ Las Meninas, King Philip IV and Queen of Maria Anna of Spain, were embroiled in a 30 Year War that involved most of 17th-century Europe. In Las Meninas 2.0, one parent is reflected in a new 30 year struggle, that of successfully rearing a child in the twenty-first century.