Las Hilanderas (Velázquez)
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| Las Hilanderas (The Fable of Arachne) |
| Diego Velázquez, c. 1657 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 167 × 252 cm |
| Museo del Prado, Madrid |
Las Hilanderas is a late masterpiece by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, painted for Pedro de Arce. The private patronage of the painting has caused it to be shrouded in some mystery, one uncertainty being its date of creation. Stylistic elements, such as the lightness, the economical use of paint, and the clear influence of the Italian Baroque, have lead many scholars to assert that it was painted in 1657. Others place it earlier, at some time between 1644-50, perhaps because certain aspects of its form and content recall the bodegones Velazquez painted in his early career.
The second ambiguity concerns the subject matter. Traditionally, it was believed that the painting depicted women workers in the tapestry workshop of Santa Isabel. In 1948, however, Diego Angula 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, in losing the contest, was turned into a spider. This is now generally accepted as the correct interpretation of the painting.
In Las Hilanderas, Velázquez developed a layered composition, an approach he had often used in his earlier bodegones, such as the Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary. In the foreground is the contest. The goddess Athena, disguised as an old woman, is on the left and Arachne, in a white top facing away from the viewer, is on the right. Three helpers assist them. In the background, a raised platform (perhaps a stage) displays the finished tapestries. The one visible to us is Arachne's, showing The Rape of Europa — another Greek myth. This is in fact a copy of Titian's version of the subject, which was in the Spanish royal collection. Athena, enraged by the lack of respect for the gods implied by such a suggestive, erotic subject, can be seen again in her divine aspect and wearing her silver helmet as she condemns Arachne.
The painting has been interpreted as an allegory of the arts and even as a commentary on the range of creative endeavor, with the fine arts represented by the goddess and the crafts represented by Arachne. Others think that Velázquez' message was simply that to create great works of art, both great creativity and hard technical work are required. Other scholars have read political allegories into the work.
[edit] Other information
The canvas was probably damaged by the fire at the Alcázar in 1734. The result was the addition of a new section to the upper portion of the canvas.
[edit] References
- Eileen Romano, Art Classics: Velázquez, 2006. ISBN 0-8478-2812-3.
- Emil Kren and Daniel Marx, The Fable of Arachne (Las Hilanderas), Web Gallery of Art, retrieved on 2006-11-11.
