Velázquez: The Fable of Arachne

The Fable of Arachne or The Thread Spinners (Las Hilanderas, c. 1656, Prado Museum, Madrid) was originally thought to depict the tapestry workshop of Santa Isabel. However, in the 20th century critics reassessed the work, concluding that its subject was in fact the fable of Arachne. In the fable, the weaver Arachne challenges the goddess Minerva to a tapestry-weaving contest, and for her hubris is transformed into a spider. Through the conceit of the “picture within a picture” Velázquez mixes genre and Classical painting, juxtaposing everyday working life and mythical imagery inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses. The complex layers of meaning and symbolism, not always obvious to the modern viewer, are typically Baroque, and result in a painting of great visual impact.

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Velázquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y

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