Las Hilanderas

Las Hilanderas (Spanish pronunciation: [las ilanˈdeɾas]; "The Spinners") is a painting by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, in the Museo del Prado of Madrid, Spain. It is also known by the title The Fable of Arachne. Most scholars regard it as a late work by the artist, dating from 1657 to 1658, but some argue that it was done c. 1644-48. Velázquez scholar Jonathan Brown writes that Las Hilanderas and Las Meninas are arguably Velázquez's "two greatest paintings.... [T]hey are the largest, most complicated compositions executed between 1640 and 1660, a period during which Velázquez painted mostly portraits of single figures". Traditionally, it was believed that the painting depicted women workers in the tapestry workshop of Santa Isabel. In 1948, however, Diego Angulo observed that the iconography suggested Ovid's Fable of Arachne, the story of the mortal Arachne who dared to challenge the goddess Athena to a weaving competition and, on winning the contest, was turned into a spider by the jealous goddess. This is now generally accepted as the correct interpretation of the painting. It was painted for Don Pedro de Arce, huntsman to King Philip IV. It entered the Spanish royal collection in the eighteenth century, and was probably damaged by the fire at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in 1734. New sections were added at the sides (37 cm in total) and over 50 cm to the top of the canvas. The painting remains at the extended size but is currently (in November 2013) displayed behind a screen with a frame added over a cut-away section revealing only the original dimensions. Stylistic elements, such as the lightness, the economical use of paint, and the clear influence of the Italian Baroque, have led most scholars to assert that it was painted in 1657–58. Others place it between 1644...