Las Meninas

By Diego Velazquez

Author Award for August 2026

Diego Velázquez's "Las Meninas" is one of the most famous and mysterious paintings in Western art. At its center is the young Infanta Margarita Teresa, surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting (the meninas), along with two court dwarfs, a large mastiff, attendants, and a bodyguard. Velázquez also included himself standing at a giant canvas. On the back wall hangs a small mirror reflecting the faces of King Philip IV and Queen Mariana, raising the intriguing possibility that they are standing where the viewer is, posing for the portrait that Velázquez is creating.

The painting is celebrated for its remarkable illusion of space and its clever play with perspective. Art historians have long debated exactly what is happening in the scene and whose point of view the viewer shares. Near the end of his life, Velázquez was admitted to the prestigious Order of Santiago, and tradition holds that the red cross on his chest was added to the painting afterward, possibly at the king's command (and perhaps even painted by the king's own hand according to some records).

Year: 1656
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid

Ownership Stats

Players with unframed copies: 15
Players with framed copies: 23