16 Works, Today, June 6th. is Diego Velázquez’s day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #155

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, on winning the contest, was turned into a spider by the jealous goddess. This is now generally accepted as the correct interpretation of the painting. More on this painting

The talented mortal Arachne, daughter of Idmon, challenged Athena, goddess of wisdom and crafts, to a weaving contest. When Athena could find no flaws in the tapestry Arachne had woven for the contest, the goddess became enraged and beat the girl with her shuttle. After Arachne hanged herself out of shame, she was transformed into a spider. The myth both provides an aetiology of spiders’ web-spinning abilities and is a cautionary tale warning mortals not to place themselves on an equal level with the gods. More on Arachne

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599 — August 6, 1660) was a 17th-century Spanish painter who produced “Las Meninas” (See below) and many renowned portraits as a member of King Philip IV’s royal court…

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