What is everyone looking at in Las Meninas?

During his career as a painter for King Philip IV of Spain, Diego Velázquez painted what is often considered one of his most profound pieces: Las Meninas. Commissioned by the king himself in 1656, the painting features an assortment of characters who were relatively important to Philip and his court. At the center of the painting stands Infanta Margaret Theresa, the roughly five-year-old princess. Doting on her at both sides are the figures the painting is named after—las meninas, the ladies-in-waiting. Other significant individuals present in the painting include Maria Bárbola and Nicolasito Pertusato, two court dwarfs, on the right edge of the painting, and Velázquez himself, who stands in front of his easel, paintbrush in hand. So besides a royal presence, what makes Las Meninas so significant? Beyond Velázquez’s ability to create texture and movement and replicate his subjects’ physical qualities, the painting's claim to fame is its mystery— the out-of-view canvas, whose unseen subject has captured everyone’s attention, even that of the hazy figure in the back who seems to be exiting the painting. If you look closely, it becomes clear that King Philip IV and his queen, Mariana of Austria, are drawing these stares. The royal couple are reflected in a mirror in the painting’s background. Interestingly, this puts the viewer in the royal couple’s place. Known as “a painting about a painting,” the illusionary piece is just one of many pieces that made Velázquez stand out among his 17th-century peers.