The Late Paintings of Velazquez - Theorizing Painterly Performance

This study argues that Diego Velázquez painted two of his most famous works, The Spinners and Las Meninas, as theoretically informed manifestos of painterly brushwork. Knox presents a Velázquez who was much more aware of the art theory of his era than previously acknowledged, leading to his new interpretation of these works as representing together a polemically charged celebration of the "handedness" of painting.