Diego Velázquez: Las meninas (1656)

(Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain)

A painting by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez (1599-1660). Las Meninas (Spanish for "The Ladies-in-waiting") is a famous painting of Velázquez. It shows a room in the Royal Alcázar of Madrid with the young infanta Margaret Theresa (1651-1673), daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria, is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honour, chaperone, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. Velázquez himself stands on the left, he is shown in the process of working at a large canvas. The subject of the piece Velázquez is working on are the parents of Margaret Theresa whose reflection can be seen in the mirror at the back. Most the people on this painting have been identified. From left to right:

1 - Diego Velazquez, a self portrait of the artist
2 - doña María Agustina Sarmiento de Sotomayo, lady-in-waiting of Margaret Theresa
3 - Mariana of Austria, second wife of King Philip IV (reflected in mirror)
4 - King Philip IV of Spain (reflected in the mirror)
5 - Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain
6 - Don José Nieto Velázquez (standing in the doorway), the queen's chamberlain during the 1650s, and head of the royal tapestry works. He may have been a relative of the artist
7 - doña Isabel de Velasco, lady-in-waiting of Margaret Theresa
8 - doña Marcela de Ulloa, chaperone of Margaret Theresa
9 - an unidentified bodyguard
10 - the German court dwarf Maria Barbola, a playmate of the infanta
11 - the Italian court dwarf Nicolas Pertusato, a playmate of the infanta

Painting from 1656