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Las Meninas is one of the most famous paintings in the history of universal art, perhaps the

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greatest work of Spanish art.

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I must say that being from Madrid, this masterpiece has always been part of my life, and what

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caught my attention since I was a child was… well, nothing really.

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I used to wonder why people were so fascinated by a painting that, ok, is very, very, very

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well-painted, but I didn't really see that there was anything special about it.

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Years later, I realized that there were many artists who had been inspired by this work

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to create their own.

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Goya?

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Picasso?

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An American painter named George Singer-Sandjet?

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There are comics and films that talk about Las Meninas.

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And I also realized that Velázquez himself had his own influences.

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So one day I visit the Prado Museum and, while standing in front of the painting, I return

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to the question.

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What is special about Las Meninas?

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Then I notice the face of the painter staring at me, that seems to pierce me with his gaze.

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I thought, why did the artist paint himself in the scene?

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And if he's supposed to be the family of Philip Ford, where is the king?

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It's supposed to be reflected in that fuzzy mirror in the background.

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But I think that if I had been the king, I would have been very angry at Velázquez for not painting me properly.

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Was he?

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But what really continued to amaze me was the realism of the painting.

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how magnificently well it was painted and its dimensions. Because due to the size,

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it gives me the feeling that there is no painting there, but a hole in the world

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that I can walk through. Can you imagine being able to walk inside the scene and

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greet the characters? Pet that dog! Look at what Velázquez is painting. Because

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What is he painting? Suddenly, I look at the composition from outside again, and I

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thought that the canvas was precisely the size of Las Meninas itself. Did

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Velázquez depict himself painting Las Meninas? Or was it another artwork, maybe

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a painting of the king? Experts argue that Velázquez was painting a portrait

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of Felipe IV and his wife, Mariana de Austria, when their daughter, Margarita,

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boards into the room with her maids. The maids were called Meninas. And, if this

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were true, then I would be standing right on the same spot as the king while

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being painted by Velázquez and reflected in the mirror. And, if I could

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travel in time, Velázquez would be painting me. Finally, I understood why Las

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Meninas has fascinated so many scholars and artists along the centuries. It's a

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painting that makes you ask yourself many questions. And the fact that it's so

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exceptionally portrayed makes Velázquez the first creator of virtual reality and

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the best painter of all time.