Baroque
Hand-painted reproduction after
Diego Velázquez
Las Hilanderas (The Spinners)
These sizes keep the painting’s true proportions. Want a different shape? Email us and we’ll adapt it.
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What happens next
The painting
Las Hilanderas (The Spinners)
Disguised as an old woman, Athena works at the left while Arachne, in a white top, turns her back to us on the right. Behind them, on a raised platform, hangs Arachne's finished tapestry, a copy of Titian's Rape of Europa from the Spanish royal collection. People long took it for women at work in the Santa Isabel tapestry workshop, until Diego Angulo tied it to Ovid's weaving contest in 1948. Probably damaged in the 1734 Alcázar fire, the canvas has been enlarged at the sides and top.Velázquez painted this around 1657. In the foreground, women work in a tapestry workshop, one at a spinning wheel whose spokes blur with speed. In the bright room behind, the myth of Arachne plays out: the goddess Athena confronts the mortal weaver in front of a tapestry copied from Titian. For a long time the painting was read as a simple workshop scene; the myth was recognised later. The original is in the Prado in Madrid.Ours is painted by hand in oil once you order, in the size you choose, and you approve a photo of it before it ships.
About the original
- Original size
- 220 × 289 cm (86.6 × 113.8 in)
- Where it hangs
- Museo del Prado, Madrid
Detail
Specification
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Painting size | |
| Framed size | |
| Frame | |
| Orientation | |
| Dominant colour | |
| Arrives | Rolled, ready for local framing |
| Packed | Rolled in a protective tube |
| Turnaround | 3 to 4 weeks, then delivery |
The hand behind it
Diego Velázquez
Velázquez spent most of his career as a court official to Philip IV, which limited what he painted and sharpened how he painted it. The royal portraits are unsparing: the Habsburg jaw is not corrected, the expressions are tired. Las Meninas, from 1656, is the painting art historians cannot stop writing about. The artist stands at his own canvas, the royal couple appear only as a reflection, a princess and her attendants occupy the foreground, and the whole arrangement puts the viewer in a position that keeps shifting. He also painted court dwarfs with the same seriousness he gave the king, which was unusual to the point of remarkable. Two trips to Italy loosened the handling considerably. The Rokeby Venus and the portrait of Innocent X came out of that period. Manet called him the painter of painters.
All paintings by this artistLooking after it
Care and hanging
Before you buy
Questions
How is the finish priced?
The price you see is the painting at the size you chose, in the finish you chose, and it updates as you change either. Rolled arrives in a protective tube, ready for local framing. Stretched arrives on wooden bars, ready to hang. Framed arrives in its frame, ready to hang. Stretched and framed go up to 60 × 90 cm (24 × 36 in); larger paintings travel rolled.
How long does it take?
Painting begins after you order and takes 3 to 4 weeks, including drying and the photo you approve. Delivery then takes 4 to 10 working days to most countries. More on delivery times.
Will it look exactly like the original?
It is painted by a person, so no. Brushwork varies between copies, which is the difference between a painting and a poster.
What if I do not like it?
Ninety days from delivery, full refund.
Can I get Las Hilanderas (The Spinners) in a different size or shape?
Yes. Las Hilanderas (The Spinners) is painted to the size you want, in the original’s proportions, or adapted to another shape on request. Stretched and framed go up to 60 x 90 cm (24 x 36 in). The original measures 220 x 289 cm (86.6 x 113.8 in).
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