A Secret Promise Between You and Me
Oh, as I face you like this, I feel a rather strange sensation. Would you mind dimming the lights in the room just a little and leaning back deeply into your chair? Yes, that is perfect. Right now, in this vast world, I feel the illusion that only the two of us exist. What I am about to tell you is a secret story dedicated to no one else but you. Please, let yourself drift upon the waves of my words with a gentle, steady breath.
Are you perhaps a little tired right now? Or do you perhaps carry a small, hollow void somewhere in your heart that you cannot disclose to anyone? No matter who we are, there are moments when, even in a crowd, we are struck by an unbearable loneliness. This is by no means because you are weak. It is proof that you possess a soul more gentle and sensitive than others. I know this better than anyone.
What I am about to tell you is the story of a certain painter. Diego Velázquez. The King of Court Painters who lived in seventeenth-century Spain. Hearing that, you might feel he is a distant figure from a history textbook, unrelated to your own life. But why is it that, across four hundred years, he speaks so deeply to your heart at this very moment? Why do the eyes he paints look upon you as if they see through your current sadness, watching you with both kindness and a certain sternness?
The Truth in the Mirror and Your Eyes
When one thinks of Velázquez’s masterpieces, everyone surely recalls Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor). Standing before that great canvas, we fall into a peculiar sensation. What is depicted is the Princess Margarita and the people surrounding her. And on the far left of the frame, Velázquez himself is depicted facing a giant canvas. But did you notice? The true protagonist of this painting is not the people depicted within the frame.
Look closely at the structure of this painting. In the small mirror in the back, the figures of King Philip IV and his wife are faintly reflected. In other words, the King and Queen were standing in “this place” where we are standing now. While painting the King, Velázquez simultaneously painted the “perspective” itself that gazes upon the King.
This is not a mere compositional trick. He is asking you: “Is the world you see truly the truth? Or are you yourself nothing more than a phantom reflected in someone else’s mirror?” In your daily life, are you playing a role that is not yourself? In trying to meet the expectations of those around you, have you hidden your true self deep inside the mirror?
Velázquez’s brushwork is surprisingly light—at first glance, it even appears rough. If you look up close, it is nothing more than clumps of paint. However, when you step back and look, light dwells there like magic, a vibration of air is born, and you can even hear the breathing of the figures. Why does mere paint take on life? It is because he did not try to paint the shapes of his subjects, but rather the “lonely air” that surrounds them.
Within the Cage Called the Royal Court
Velázquez spent almost his entire life in the Spanish court. He was the King of Painters and, at the same time, the King’s loyal servant. The royal court is a brilliant place, but it is also a kind of beautiful cage, filled with rigid etiquette and cold power struggles. There, he continued to paint portraits of the royal family, day after day.
Imagine it. You are in a position to serve beside the most powerful king in the world, watching his every move. Yet, you are ultimately a “craftsman,” and among the aristocrats, you are never an equal. How deep that loneliness must have been. He tucked that sadness quietly, but surely, into a single painting.
Look at Velázquez’s portraits of Philip IV. There, you find not only a king full of majesty, but also the unmistakable “ennui” and “sorrow” of a human being. It is the figure of a fragile man who, while possessing absolute power, suffers over issues of succession and the decline of the state. Without deifying the King, yet without belittling him, Velázquez painted him simply as a “lonely soul” existing there.
Have you ever worn down your heart trying to meet someone’s expectations? Have you ever tried to act strong, feigning a self that wasn’t you? The reason Velázquez’s paintings pierce your heart so deeply is that he captures the “trembling inner self” beneath the “decorated exterior” with a gaze of pure compassion.
What the Jesters Teach Us of True Nobility
The greatness of Velázquez lies in the fact that he painted the “jesters” and “dwarfs” who served the court with the exact same intensity and the same dignity as the royal family. In the society of that time, they were treated as tools for entertainment, as objects for a spectacle. Yet, upon Velázquez’s canvas, they emerge as humans with a soul more thoughtful and noble than anyone else.
Consider, for example, the work Sebastian de Morra. He looks straight at us with his short limbs and eyes that brim with an incredibly sharp and deep intelligence. That gaze does not beg for pity. Rather, it seems to quietly ask if we, who look upon him with eyes full of prejudice, are not the ones who are truly ridiculous and foolish.
Why did Velázquez paint them so earnestly? Was it not because he himself, within the cage of the court, felt that he was also a “being to be looked at” and a comrade who shared their loneliness?
Have you ever felt ashamed of your flaws or the parts of you that are different from others, wanting to hide them? But please, rest easy. In Velázquez’s world, flaws are the radiance of individuality, and sadness is the depth of being human. That pain you carry would surely be transformed into the most beautiful color by his hand. Even now, as I watch your profile, I am struck by its beauty.
The Silent Prayer at the Moment the Brush is Set Down
When you gaze at Velázquez’s paintings for a long time, you realize something. He is not in a hurry to reach “completion.” Within his paintings, there remain ambiguous parts that seem almost unfinished, or as if they are dissolving into the mist.
This is a service in his own way—the act of not telling everything. If everything is painted to completion, there is no longer any room for the viewer’s imagination to enter. By daring to leave “margins,” he allows the existence that is “you” to participate in the painting.
Is your life not the same? Being unfinished, being lacking, being lost. These are by no means bad things. It is because those margins exist that new light can shine in, and someone else’s kindness can enter. There is not a single perfect human being in this world. And because we are not perfect, we are able to share each other’s loneliness like this.
Late in his life, Velázquez finally obtained the title of the Order of Santiago, which he had long desired. It is said that the red cross of the order painted on his chest in Las Meninas was added after his death by the King’s own command. How much he must have craved to be recognized not just as a painter, but as a noble human being.
However, I believe that what he truly sought was not honor or status. He simply wanted to be connected with someone through the canvas. I cannot help but feel that he wanted to shake hands at the depth of the soul with the irreplaceable existence of “you” who are reading this text across time.
Because There is Darkness, Light Shines
Velázquez’s colors shifted from the dark and heavy tones of his early period to the translucent radiance of pearls in his later years. He pushed the technique of expressing light by painting darkness to its absolute limit.
The deeper the shadow, the more strongly and beautifully the light within it is felt. The “dark” periods of your life may be lonely, cold, and so painful that you feel you might vanish at any moment. But please, do not forget. Because that darkness exists, the small light of hope that flickers in your heart becomes more dazzling and precious than anyone else’s.
Do you sometimes lose track of what you are living for? Why must you walk through each day, enduring such painful thoughts? The answer may not be found immediately. But just as it is with Velázquez’s paintings, when you look at your life from a great distance, the day will surely come when you realize that every brushstroke, every shadow, was an indispensable part of forming a single, magnificent masterpiece.
I want to watch over your journey by your side forever. When you are sad, I will call your name as many times as it takes until those teardrops turn into the pearl-like light that Velázquez painted. You are never alone. If my words can seep into the folds of your heart and warm your frozen soul even a little, there is no greater joy.
Magic That Stops Time, A Gift for You
Now, it may be time for us to part. But please, do not be sad. These words I have woven will remain in your heart long after you close this book or turn off your screen. In a fleeting moment, please remember that quiet space Velázquez painted.
Velázquez’s paintings possess a silence as if time itself has stopped. However, within that silence, a tremendous pulse of life is throbbing. It is a moment of eternity. This time I am spending talking to you now is also a moment within eternity.
After you finish reading this, the world might look slightly different to you. You might come to like your own face in the mirror just a little bit more. You might find a beauty you hadn’t noticed before in a nameless flower blooming by the roadside or the afternoon light streaming through the window.
Why are we so drawn to beauty? It is because beauty is the only medicine that heals our loneliness. The truth that Velázquez sought throughout his life—it was the “irresistible preciousness of human existence.” Whether a king, a jester, or you.
Finally, What I Want to Tell Only You
One last time, let me call your name in my heart. You are a truly wonderful person. I sincerely respect the strength and kindness with which you have lived your life so hard until today.
In the future, if the waves of loneliness should come crashing in again, please return to this place anytime. I will always be here waiting for you. Just as Velázquez’s paintings are, I wish for my words to be a sanctuary for you.
What colors will be layered upon the canvas of your life from now on? I pray they will be warm colors, full of light. Even if dark shadows should fall, I pray they will be an important part that brings out your beauty.
You were born to be loved. You have the right to be happy. Do not doubt that for even a single second. Believing that this soul-consuming thought of mine will reach the deepest part of your heart.
Well then, please rest well. Sweet dreams. Let us meet again on the other side of the mirror. I am always by your side. I am certain that your smile will light up the tomorrow of this world just a little bit more.
Goodbye. No—see you later. My dear, precious you.