As overseer of the royal collection Velàzquez would have known two early Netherlandish paintings: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck and Saint Luke Depicting the Virgin Mary by Rogier van der Weyden. The similarities of The Arnolfini Portrait to Las Meninas have been noted, while the relevance of Rogier’s painting to the conception of Las Meninas has been overlooked. I argue that Velàzquez referenced both paintings to emphasize the differences in facture between his own work, derived from the Cinquecento Venetians, and that of early oil painters and, what is more important, that of his own contemporaries. Previous interpretations of Las Meninas have been focused on how it served the artist’s efforts to raise his status and the status of his profession. I do not deny Velázquez’s ambitions but here I attend to art theoretical and technical issues that offer a fuller understanding of Las Meninas.