Las Meninas (Spanish for The Maids of Honour) is a 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The work's complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality and illusion, and creates an uncertain relationship between the viewer and the figures depicted. Because of these complexities, Las Meninas has been one of the most widely analysed works in Western painting.

The painting shows a large room in the Madrid palace of King Philip IV of Spain, and presents several figures, most identifiable from the Spanish court, captured, according to some commentators, in a particular moment as if in a snapshot. Some look out of the canvas towards the viewer, while others interact among themselves. The young Infanta Margarita is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honour, chaperone, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. Just behind them, Velázquez portrays himself working at a large canvas. Velázquez looks outwards, beyond the pictorial space to where a viewer of the painting would stand. In the background there is a mirror that reflects the upper bodies of the king and queen. They appear to be placed outside the picture space in a position similar to that of the viewer, although some scholars have speculated that their image is a reflection from the painting Velázquez is shown working on.

Las Meninas has long been recognised as one of the most important paintings in Western art history. The Baroque painter Luca Giordano said that it represents the "theology of painting", while in the 19th century Sir Thomas Lawrence called the work "the philosophy of art". More recently, it has been described as "Velázquez's supreme achievement, a highly self-conscious, calculated demonstration of what painting could achieve, and perhaps the most searching comment ever made on the possibilities of the easel painting".

Beginning with the painting itself, we can see that Las Meninas depicts a behind-the-scenes look at Velazquez the royal painter at work. The painter has just stepped out from behind the great canvas to study his model. The dwarf at the right of the painting, her hand on her breast, gazes respectfully at this same model. Likewise, the courtier behind her, hands clasped, with the same look of respect, gazes at the same point. While the two meninas respectfully look at the Infanta, the center of the gathering, the Infanta looks out of the surface of the painting. The court painter, the dwarf, and the courtiers also seem to be looking out of the painting. Who are they all looking at? Which "model" are they looking upon? The answer slips in on the back wall. Among the paintings in the studio is a mirror. We know it to be a mirror because its bright edges and colors contrast the dark and unlighted works surrounding it. In the mirror are two figures: the father and mother of the Infanta, King Philip IV and Queen Mariana.

One of the infantas, Margaret Theresa, the eldest daughter of the new Queen, appears to be subject of Las Meninas (1656, English: The Maids of Honour), Velázquez's magnum opus. However, in looking at the various viewpoints of the painting it is unclear as to who or what is the true subject. Is it the royal daughter, or perhaps the painter himself? The answer may lie in the image on the back wall, depicting the King and Queen. Is this image a mirror, in which case the King and Queen are standing where the spectator stands? Are they the subject of Velazquez's work? Or is the work simply a court painting? Much is still in speculation about the true subject of this masterpiece, and many of the questions that are asked may never be truly answered.

Velázquez's Las Meninas has long captivated viewers by its effect of naturalism. Nineteenth century critics saw it as anticipating the invention of the camera with its effect of capturing a "snapshot" of a moment in time and space. Contemporary critics have emphasized the calculated control Velázquez employed to construct this effect of naturalism. Rather than as a snap-shot, a transparent window, or a spotless mirror of the world, Las Meninas is today seen to be more about the nature of painting, the artist's control over representation, and the status of Velázquez as a court artist.

The painting needs to be understood within the carefully structured world of royal courts. As royal power increased greater emphasis was placed on the differentiation between the public and private worlds of the monarchs. During the fourteenth century palace design distinguished between the more public world of the grand hall and the more private world of the king's chamber. The chamber itself became divided up to distinguish between the space of the presence chamber where the monarch could greet foreign ambassadors and the king's bedchamber which was accessible to only the highest members of the court. By the sixteenth century, the process continued with the creation of an inner sanctum within the chamber, the privy chamber. In the world of the court your relative importance was directly reflected by which chamber you were appointed to. This is well reflected in the succession of positions that Velázquez held. Velázquez's first appointment was as Ayuda de la Guardarropa. The Guardarroppa was what was designated as the guard or watching chamber in Tudor palace design. Its function was to serve as the chamber for the guards protecting the boundary between the public world of the court from the world of the royal chambers beyond. Velázquez's next appointment to the position of Ayuda de Cámara. This refers to what in the Tudor court was designated at the "presence chamber." This would be the formal audience hall for the monarch who would be positioned under the cloth of estate and would greet ambassadors. This chamber would also be used for formal dining.