Las Meninas or The Family of Philip IV (1656-57)

Las Meninas or The Royal Family is the most famous of Velázquez's paintings, his undisputed masterpiece, described by the Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano as the "theology of painting". It is set in a room in the Alcázar, equipped by Velázquez as a studio, and shows the heiress to the throne, the Infanta Margarita, with her court. The queen's maid of honour, Dona Maria Agustina Sarmiento is kneeling at the Infanta's feet, handing her a jug of water. The other maid of honour, Dona Isabel de Velasco stands behind the princess, and beside her we see the grotesquely misshapen female dwarf Mari-Bárbola and the male dwarf Nicolasico Pertusato. Further back are a guard to the ladies and the lady in waiting Doña Marcela de Ulloa. Velázquez is standing with brush and palette in front of a tall canvas. The princess's parents, the king and queen, appear in a dark frame, probably the glass of a mirror. To the right of the mirror, on a flight of steps, stands Jose Nieto, the queen's palace marshal.