Greatest Paintings: The Ghost of Spain – Velázquez’s Las Meninas

Diego Velázquez’s 1656 masterpiece *Las Meninas* serves as a profound meditation on the blurred boundaries between artistic illusion and reality during the fading Spanish Golden Age. Art critic Laura Cumming, author of *The Vanishing Man*, joins Tom Holland to examine how the painting’s life-sized scale and sophisticated use of light and shadow create an immersive experience where the viewer becomes an active participant in the royal chamber. The composition captures a specific historical tension: while the Spanish court maintained an elaborate facade of global superpower status, the underlying reality was increasingly fragile and "shabbier." By placing the painter himself within the frame alongside the Infanta and her retinue, Velázquez mirrors the literary themes of *Don Quixote*, questioning the interface between created worlds and the physical realm. This dialogue highlights how the painting functions as a "spectacular curtain-raiser" that defines the 17th-century Spanish cultural consciousness.