Artibus et Historiae no. 15 (VIII)
1987, ISSN 0391-9064Up
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RICHARD STAPLEFORD, JOHN POTTER - Velázquez' Las Hilanderas
Velázquez' Las Hilanderas, examined in the light of Ripa's entry in his Iconologia for Mutability and with supporting material from Cartari's Le imagini de i dei, proves to be a meditation on the mutability of the life and the permanence of art. The theme is enriched through allusions to Ovid's story of Arachne and Titian's Rape of Europa confined to the background and standing for the triumph of art, and the Three Fates and the Goddess Fortune, depicted in the foreground and standing for the mutable world of human beings. Finally, a personal note can be discerned in a veiled reference to the emblem of the Knights of Santiago, reminding us of Velázquez' tenacious quest for a knighthood during the last decade of his life.
