Las Meninas
1656 · El Prado, Madrid
The Infanta and her maids fill the room, but Velázquez has put himself at his easel and the king and queen in a mirror behind.
★ 9.8
The Art canon
Sourced and hung.
Every work chosen by hand and annotated for why it matters.
Browse all 704 works or filter by movement, subject, place, and artist.
Browse all 704 works or filter by movement, subject, place, and artist.
The Surrender of Breda
1635 · El Prado, Madrid
The Spanish general stops the defeated Dutchman from kneeling and lays a hand on his shoulder. Spaniards still call the picture The Lances.
★ 8.8
Portrait of Pope Innocent X
1650 · Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome
Velázquez caught every wary line in the pope's face, and Innocent reportedly said it was troppo vero, too true. Francis Bacon reworked it for years.
★ 8.8
Portrait of Juan de Pareja
1650 · Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Pareja was Velázquez's enslaved assistant, freed soon after this was painted in Rome as a warm-up before the pope sat for him.
★ 7.8
Christ Crucified
1632 · El Prado, Madrid
No crowd, no landscape, nothing but the body against black, with the hair fallen forward to half-cover the face. Made for private prayer.
★ 7.3
Old Woman Frying Eggs
1618 · National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
Eggs are visibly cooking in the pan as you watch. Velázquez painted this in Seville when he was barely nineteen years old.
★ 6.9
Mars
1641 · El Prado, Madrid
Mars sits naked and deflated in a plumed helmet with his armor on the floor, looking more like a tired old soldier.
★ 6.8
The Coronation of the Virgin
1641 · El Prado, Madrid
Father and Son lower the crown together while the group curves into a soft heart shape. Painted for the Spanish queen's private oratory.
★ 6.3