Final answer:
Pablo Picasso copied Las Meninas to delve into the complexities of visual representation and pay tribute to Velázquez, melding the historical techniques with his modernist approach.
Step-by-step explanation:
Pablo Picasso studied and copied Las Meninas as part of his exploration of the complexity of visual representation and as an homage to the Spanish master Diego Velázquez. The celebrated painting Las Meninas is renowned for its enigmatic composition that blurs the lines between reality and illusion, questioning the relationship between the viewer and the figures in the painting. Picasso's engagement with Las Meninas was also a means of placing himself within the grand tradition of Spanish art, much as Velázquez had done by painting himself into the royal portrait.
Velázquez's Las Meninas has fascinated artists and critics for centuries, with its sophisticated play of space and light, reflections and gazes, and the presence of the artist himself within the pictorial space, claiming his place among the royal household. Picasso's repeated studies of the work reflect a broader artistic practice of his, where through extensive sketching and re-imagining, he deconstructed traditional forms to create new visual languages, such as with his pioneering work in Cubism that revolutionized Western ideas of pictorial space.
Studying Las Meninas allowed Picasso to engage deeply with issues of perception and representation, paralleling his own radical reconfiguration of the human figure and space in paintings like Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. By studying Velázquez, Picasso was able to draw on historical techniques and motifs to enrich his own artistic practice and contribute to his reputation as a master of modern art.