The masterful projective pattern across form and symbolism in Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez

(Incipit) Since it was painted, in 1656, Las Meninas by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, has never stopped astonishing those who face it as spectators, scholars, painters, semiologists, either for its fascinating beauty and imposing size (276 x 318 centimeters), or for its enigmatic set. Quite unusually, we see the painter at work in front of us on a huge canvas, attentively looking into our space and our eyes, together with other depicted characters including the shining Infanta Margarita, aging five at that time, daughter of Felipe IV and Mariana de Austria, the Royal couple appearing reflected in a mirror hung on the rear wall, while the widespread gloom pervading the big space, sometimes ripped by finite irruptions of sharp light further feeds the mysterious atmosphere of the scene, studded by series of big paintings appearing on the high walls and in between the bays. But what actually is the scene, and what does it mean? (...).