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Las Meninas is a 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez. The painting depicts Infanta Margaret Theresa surrounded by her entourage. Behind them, Velázquez portrays himself working at a large canvas, and a mirror in the background reflects the upper bodies of the king and queen. The Italian Baroque painter Luca Giordano described Las Meninas as the "theology of painting", and in 1827 Thomas Lawrence called the work "the true philosophy of the art". The painting has since become a focal point for scholarly debates about representation, spectatorship, and the social status of the artist. Michel Foucault opened The Order of Things with an extended analysis of its treatment of classical representation; Svetlana Alpers read it as Velázquez's claim for painting as a liberal art; and Leo Steinberg and Joel Snyder have offered competing accounts of its spatial logic and the function of the mirror on the back wall. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Frame from the "Rats" advertisement

... that a campaign advertisement (frame pictured) for the 2000 United States presidential election was accused of using subliminal messaging to associate a candidate with the word "rats"?
... that a group of houses on New York City's 74th Street was not initially sold because it was envisioned for a "very desirable class of tenants"?
... that the retro style of Mary Mary Mary is unintentional?
... that Fenny Nuli is the first Iban woman to serve as a Malaysian ambassador?
... that fossil traders frequently outline the antennae of the trilobite Megistaspis with "cat ears"?
... that Robert Henry Clarence, despite having significant debts, rejected a £4,000 payment because he refused to recognise Nicaragua's control over the Mosquito Coast?
... that Future's song "Codeine Crazy" plays on a radio station in Grand Theft Auto V?
... that dal puri, a national dish in multiple countries, was introduced by Indian indentured labourers?
... that Boris Alexander Krukoff fought in the Russian Civil War, went on expeditions to the Amazon, spied on the Ford Motor Company, smuggled Cinchona seeds, and owned plantations?

In the news

John Pardon

In mathematics, the Fields Medal is awarded to Yu Deng, John Pardon (pictured), Jacob Tsimerman and Hong Wang.
Co-president of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega announces the suspension of the next general election, declaring that the country will no longer have elections.
Andy Burnham succeeds Keir Starmer as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party following a leadership election.
Carlos Vila Nova is re-elected President of São Tomé and Príncipe.

On this day

July 25: Saint James's Day (Western Christianity); Tenjin Matsuri in Japan; National Day of Galicia; Puerto Rico Constitution Day

Central medallion of the Duffield Memorial

1261 – Struggle for Constantinople: Alexios Strategopoulos led Nicaean forces to recapture Constantinople, leading to the reestablishment of the Byzantine Empire and the end of the Latin Empire.
1591 – Eighty Years' War: Dutch and English forces relieved the siege of Knodsenburg in the Spanish Netherlands, having defeated the Duke of Parma's army in the field.
1950 – Korean War: After American troops withdrew, North Korean forces captured the village of Yongdong in South Korea.
2001 – Phoolan Devi, a serving Indian member of Parliament, was shot outside her house in New Delhi, India.
2022 – The Duffield Memorial (central medallion pictured) in Great Baddow, an "unusual example of Art Nouveau design in metal work", was designated a listed building by Historic England.

Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem (d. 1190)
Hulk (b. 1986)
Chawarin Perdpiriyawong (b. 2001)
David Trimble (d. 2022)

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Today's featured picture

Lavaux is a region in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, in the district of Lavaux-Oron. The region consists of 830 hectares (2,100 acres) of terraced vineyards that stretch for about 30 kilometres (19 mi) along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva. The region is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the formal name Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces. The vine terraces in the area date to the 11th century, under the rule of Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries. The main variety of wine grape grown here is Chasselas. This photograph shows an aerial view of the terraced vineyards of Lavaux near the village of Rivaz, overlooking Lake Geneva.

Photograph credit: Lorenz Poffet

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