89Las Meninas (by Witkin) or the unpredictable emergence of the powers of the soul 1

This chapter is an essay entitled “Las Meninas (by Witkin) or the unpredictable emergence of the powers of the soul”, that pays homage to –and offers a parody of – Michel Foucault’s celebrated analysis (1966) of Diego Velázquez’ painting, Las Meninas (1656). To achieve this, it utilizes Joel Peter Witkin’s photograph, also entitled Las Meninas (Autorretrato según Velázquez) (1987). The general intent of this text is to trigger reflections on the inventive power of subjectivity.