Las Meninas (Infanta Margarita Maria with her maids of honour in the artist's studio), 1656 (oil on canvas) Madrid, Museo del Prado.
In this spacially complex painting, the audacious artist and social climber Velasquez paints himself into the regal scene, immediately throwing up a conundrum. What is being painted? Is subject of the painting hidden from our view, placing us in the position of the sitter? The mirror on the far wall is the clue. In it we can see the reflected image of the King and Queen posing for a royal portrait. The royal household seems to have congregated to watch the painter at work. The rendering of the artist's studio with its door, mirror and collection of paintings is a patchwork of framed, illusionistic space. Painted highlights on the clothes of the assembled viewers against the subdued interior re-focuses our attention on the depicted rather than the implied subject and creates a tension in the way we read this fascinating painting.
© akg-images/Erich Lessing