quotation: I believe there’s no proverb but what is true; Miguel de Cervantes

I believe there’s no proverb but what is true; they are all so many sentences and maxims drawn from experience, the universal mother of sciences.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Discuss

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this day in the yesteryear: The Madrid Train Bombings (2004)

The Madrid Train Bombings (2004)

On the morning of March 11, 2004, 10 explosions occurred aboard four commuter trains in Madrid. The series of coordinated bombings killed 191 people and wounded 2,050, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain’s history. Although a Basque militant group was originally suspected of the attack, an investigation revealed that it was carried out by an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell. The bombings occurred three days before Spain’s general elections and exactly 911 days after what event? More… Discuss

Richard Strauss: Don Quixote op. 35 (1897), Mistislav Rostropovich, Seiji Ozawa, Saito Kinen Orch. ,great compositions/performances

Richard Strauss: Don Quixote op. 35 (1897)

andreachinaglia90

Published on Jan 9, 2013

Richard Strauss: Don Quixote op. 35 (1897).

Mistislav Rostropovich, cello.
Saito Kinen Orchestra.
Seiji Ozawa, conductor.

this pressed from VOA: Tsipras Names Austerity Critic as Greek Finance Chief

Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras poses for the photographers after taking a secular oath at the Presidential Palace in Athens, Jan. 26, 2015.

Tsipras Names Austerity Critic as Greek Finance Chief

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An economist who has been an outspoken critic of Greece’s bailout deal with international lenders was named Tuesday as the country’s finance minister in the new leftist government.

Anti-austerity Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras picked Yanis Varoufakis for the key economic portfolio as he named other political supporters to his Cabinet after his Syriza party swept to victory in Sunday’s election.

via Tsipras Names Austerity Critic as Greek Finance Chief.

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this pressed: Coffin with Cervantes’ initials found in Madrid | Reuters

1 of 8. Forensic expert Francisco Etxeberria (R) and archaeologist Almudena Garcia Rubio hold pictures showing the remains of niches, one of them appeared with the letters M.C. on it, found in the crypt of Trinitarian convent as they pose outside the convent in Madrid January 26, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Sergio Perez

(Reuters) – Historians searching for the tomb of Spain’s greatest writer, Miguel de Cervantes, said on Monday they had found fragments of a coffin with his initials on it, under a convent where he may have been buried.

Four centuries after the writer of Don Quixote died, experts have been trying to locate his remains in the hope of establishing an official burial site that would attract tourists and literary pilgrims.

They began using ground-penetrating radar last April to explore the sub-soil of an old brick-walled convent in the heart of Madrid where the writer had asked to buried.

Researchers said on Monday they had found some bones and a crumbling casket after digging in the crypt. A piece of the coffin had the letters “M” and “C.” on it, spelled out in metal tacks, they said.

via Coffin with Cervantes’ initials found in Madrid | Reuters.

today’s holiday: Cali Fair (2014)

Cali Fair (2014)

The rich cultural identity of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, has been celebrated each year since 1957 at the Cali Fair. A major event that draws thousands of local residents and tourists from around the world, the Fair opens with the cabalgata, an elaborate cavalcade of riders mounted on fine horses. There are numerous artisans selling their crafts, street performers, and other forms of entertainment, and a salsa marathon is one of many dance events held each year. It is said that during Fair time, Cali is the home of the best salsa dancing in the world. More… Discuss

Joaquin Rodrigo – Concierto Para Una Fiesta (Pepe Romero):, great compositions/performances (check out the long list of compositions!)

Joaquin Rodrigo – Concierto Para Una Fiesta (Full Concerto)

Yuri Moura

From 1982, played by Pepe Romero.

Joaquín Rodrigo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Monument in Rosario, Argentina
Born	November 22, 1901 Sagunto, Valencia, Spain
Died	July 6, 1999 (aged 97) Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Spouse(s)	Victoria Kamhi

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez (Spanish: [xoaˈkin roˈðɾiɣo]; November 22, 1901 – July 6, 1999), commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist.

Rodrigo’s music is among the most popular music of the twentieth century. In particular, his Concierto de Aranjuez is considered one of the pinnacles of the Spanish music and of the guitar concerto repertoire.

Life

He was born in Sagunto, Valencia, and almost completely lost his sight at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. He began to study solfège, piano and violin at the age of eight; harmony and composition from the age of sixteen. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and best known for his guitar music, he never mastered the instrument himself. He wrote his compositions in Braille, which was transcribed for publication.

Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich in Valencia and under Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he went to Paris again to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel and then under André Pirro. His first published compositions^[1] date from 1940. In 1943 he received Spain’s National Prize for Orchestra for Cinco piezas infantiles (“Five Children’s Pieces”), based on his earlier composition of the same piece for two pianos, premiered by Ricardo Viñes. From 1947 Rodrigo was a professor of music history, holding the Manuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, at Complutense University of Madrid. Notable students include Yüksel Koptagel, Turkish composer and pianist.

His most famous work, Concierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris for the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza. In later life he and his wife declared that it was written as a response to the miscarriage of their first child.^[2] It is a concerto for guitar and orchestra. The central adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in 20th-century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with cor anglais. This movement was later adapted by the jazz arranger Gil Evans for Miles Davis‘ 1960 album ‘Sketches of Spain‘. The Concerto was adapted by the composer himself for Harp and Orchestra at the request of Nicanor Zabaleta and dedicated to Zabaleta.

The success of this concerto led to commissions from a number of prominent soloists, including Nicanor Zabaleta, for whom Rodrigo dedicated his Concierto serenata for Harp and Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber, for whom Rodrigo composed his Concierto como un divertimento for cello and orchestra, and James Galway, for whom Rodrigo composed his Concierto pastoral for flute and orchestra. In 1954 Rodrigo composed Fantasía para un gentilhombre at the request of Andrés Segovia. His Concierto Andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra, was commissioned by Celedonio Romero for himself and his three sons.

 

Monument in Aranjuez, Spain

None of Rodrigo’s works, however, achieved the popular and critical success of the Concierto de Aranjuez and the Fantasia para un gentilhombre. These two works are very often paired in recordings.

He was awarded Spain’s highest award for composition, the Premio Nacional de Música, in 1983. On 30 December 1991, Rodrigo was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos I with the hereditary title of Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez^[3][4] (English: Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez). He received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award—Spain’s highest civilian honor—in 1996. He was named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1998.

He married Victoria Kamhi, a Turkish-born pianist whom he had met in Paris, on 19 January 1933, in Valencia. Their daughter, Cecilia, was born on January 27, 1941. Rodrigo died in 1999 in Madrid at the age of 97, and his daughter succeeded him as Marquésa de los Jardines de Aranjuez. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria are buried at the cemetery at Aranjuez.

Works

Orchestral

• Orchestra
  • Cinco Piezas Infantiles (1928)
  • Tres viejos aires de danza (1929; first performance, Jan. 20, 1930, by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia conducted by José Manuel Izquierdo)
  • Dos miniaturas andaluzas (1929; first performance, Nov. 22, 1999, at the Palau de la Música de Valencia, Spain, by the Orquesta de Cámara Joaquín Rodrigo)
  • Zarabande lejana y Villancico (1930; first performance, March 9, 1931, at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, by the Orquesta Femenina de París, conducted by Jane Evrard)
  • Per la flor del Lliri Blau, symphonic poem (1934; First Prize, Círculo de Bellas Artes)
  • Soleriana (first performance by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Hans von Benda, on August 22, 1953 in Berlin)
  • Pavana Real (1955)
  • Música para un jardín (1957) [Orchestration of his two piano Berceuses]
  • A la busca del más allá (1976; commissioned by the Houston Symphony for the United States Bicentennial, Rodrigo was inspired by the thought of space exploration)
  • Palillos y panderetas (1982)
• Rondalla
  • Estudiantina (1962)
• Symphonic Wind Ensemble
  • Homenaje a la Tempranica (1939; first performance, 1939, in Paris by the Orquesta Femenina de París, conducted by Jane Evrard)
  • Homenaje a Sagunto (1955)
  • Adagio Para Orquesta de Instrumentos de Viento (1966; first performance in June 1966, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Austin Boudreau)
  • Pasodoble para Paco Alcalde (1975)

Concertante

• Cello
  • Dos piezas caballerescas for four-piece cello orchestra (1945; first performance, May 27, 1945, in Madrid by cello ensemble students of Juan Ruiz Casaux) – later transcribed for four guitars by Peter Jermer
  • Concierto en modo galante (1949; first performance, Nov. 4, 1949, in Madrid by Gaspar Cassadó, with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by Ataulfo Argenta)
  • Concierto como un divertimento (1981)

• Flute
  • Aria antigua (1960)
  • Concierto pastoral (1978)

• Guitar
  • Concierto de Aranjuez (1939)
  • Fantasía para un gentilhombre (1954)
  • Concierto madrigal for two guitars (1966; commissioned by Alexandre Lagoya and Ida Presti; first performance, July 30, 1967, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, by Angel Romero and Pepe Romero, with the Los Angeles Symphony conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos)
  • Concierto Andaluz for four guitars (1967)
  • Concierto para una fiesta (1982; first performance, March 5, 1983, at the Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth, TX, by Pepe Romero, with the Texas Little Symphony conducted by John Giordano)
  • Rincones de España (1990; first performance by Angel Romero on March 7, 1991, at New York’s Lincoln Center)

• Harp
  • Concierto serenata (1954)
  • Sones en la Giralda (1963; written as a wedding present for the harpist Marisa Robles) – later transcribed for guitar and orchestra by Pepe Romero

• Piano
  • Juglares (1923); first public performance: 1924, Valencia
  • Concierto heroico (1943)

• Violin
  • Dos esbozos for violin and piano (1923; Rodrigo’s “Opus 1”)
  • Cançoneta for violin and string orchestra (1923; first performance in 1923 in Valencia, Spain, by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia, conducted by José Manuel Izquierdo)
  • Concierto de estío (1944; first performance, April 16, 1944, by Enrique Iniesta, at the Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon, Portugal, with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by Bartolomé Pérez Casas)
  • Set Cançons Valencianes for violin and piano (1982)

Instrumental

• Bandoneón
  • Motu perpetuo (1960)

• Cello
  • Como una fantasía (1979; first performance, March 17, 1981, by Carlos Prieto, in Mexico City)

• Guitar
  • Zarabanda lejana (1926; first performance by Joaquín Nin-Culmell, in Paris)
  • Toccata para guitarra (1933; first performance, June 1, 2006, by Marcin Dylla, in Madrid)
  • En Los Trigales (1938; first performance by Regino Sainz de la Maza; later published as part of Por los campos de España)
  • Tiento Antiguo (1942; first performance, 1942, by Regino Sainz de la Maza)
  • Three Spanish Pieces – Tres Piezas Españolas (Fandango, Passacaglia, Zapateado) (1954; dedicated to Andrés Segovia)
  • Bajando de la meseta (1954; first performance by Nicolás Alfonso in Brussels; later published as part of Por los campos de España)
  • Entre olivares (1956; dedicated to Manuel López Ramos; later published as part of Por los campos de España)
  • En tierras de Jerez (1957; dedicated to Luise Walker)
  • Tonadilla (1959; first performance by the guitar duo of Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya)
  • Junto al Generalife (1959; first performance by Siegfrid Behrend)
  • Sonata Giocosa (1960; dedicated to Renata Tarragó)
  • Invocación y danza (1961; first performance, May 12, 1962, by Alirio Díaz, at the Château de la Brède near Bordeaux, France—First prize, Coupe International de Guitare, awarded by Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française [ORTF])
  • Sonata a la Española (1963; dedicated to Ernesto Bitetti)
  • Tres pequeñas piezas (Ya se van los pastores, Por caminos de Santiago, Pequeña Sevillana) (1963)
  • Elogio de la guitarra (1971; written for the guitarist Angelo Gilardino, who gave the first performance)
  • Pajaros de primavera (1972; commissioned by Dr. Isao Takahashi, a promotor of classical guitar in Japan, for his wife Take Takahashi; first performed in 1972 at the hospital bedside of Take Takahashi in Japan, “interpreted by a guitarist friend,” as she was dying of cancer^[5]—Christopher Parkening gave the first public performance, also in Japan)
  • Dos preludios (1976; first performance, 1989, by Celedonio Romero, in Los Angeles, CA, and first recording by Wolfgang Lendle)
  • Tríptico (1978; first performance, 1978, by Alexandre Lagoya, at the Château de Rougerie in France)
  • Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa (1981; first performance, 1989, by Randy Pile in San Diego, CA)
  • Ecos de Sefarad (1987; first performance, 1989, by Sherri Rottersman, at the Círculo Medina in Madrid)
  • ¡Qué buen caminito! (1987; first performance, 1987, by Mariá Esther Guzmán, at the Conservatorio de Música de Sevilla)

• Harp
  • Impromptu (1959; first performance by Ana María Martini Gil)

• Piano
  • Suite pour piano (1923)
  • Berceuse d’automne (1923)
  • Cinco Piezas Infantiles (Son chicos que pasan, Después de un cuento, Mazurka, Plegaria, Gritería) (1924)
  • Preludio al Gallo mañanero (1926)
  • Zarabande lejana (1926)
  • Pastorale (1926)
  • Bagatela (1926)
  • Berceuse de printemps (1928)
  • Air de Ballet sur le nom d’une Jeune Fille (1930)
  • Serenata Española (1931)
  • Sonada de adiós (‘Homenaje a Paul Dukas’) (1935)
  • Cuatro Piezas (Caleseras, Fandango del ventorrillo, Prayer of the Princess of Castile, Danza Valenciana) (1936-1938)
  • Tres Danzas de España (Rústica, Danza de los tres doncellas, Serrana) (1941)
  • Gran Marcha de los Subsecretarios (1941)
  • A l’ombre de Torre Bermeja (1945)
  • Cuatro Estampas Andaluzas (1946-1952)
  • El Album de Cecilia (María de los Reyes, Jota de las Palomas, Canción del Hada rubia, Canción del Hada morena, El negrito Pepo, Borriquillos a Belén) (1948)
  • Cinco Sonatas de Castilla, con Toccata a modo de Pregón (1950-1951)
  • Danza de la Amapola (1972)
  • Atardecer (1975)
  • Sonatina para dos Muñecas (1977)
  • Tres Evocaciones (Tarde en el parque, Noche en el Guadalquivir, Triana) (1980-1981)
  • Preludio de Añoranza (1987)

• Violin
  • Capriccio (1944; first performance, Jan. 8, 1946, by Enrique Iniesta, in Madrid)

Vocal/choral

• Ave Maria for unaccompanied choir (1923)
• Ausencias de Dulcinea (1948); First prize, Cervantes Competition
• Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios (1948)
• De las doce canciones españolas (Textos populares adaptados por Victoria Kamhi) (1951)
• Villancicos y canciones de navidad (1952); Ateneo de Madrid Prize
• Cuatro canciones sephardies (1965)
• El Hijo Fingido, Zarzuela
• Porque toco el pandero
• Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1982)
• Tres canciones^[6]

Guitar and voice

• Coplas del Pastor Enamorado (1935)
• Tres Canciones Españolas (1951)
• Tres Villancicos (1952)
• Romance de Durante (1955)
• Folías Canarias (1958)
• Aranjuez, ma pensée (1988)

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word: whorl

whorl 

Definition:	(noun) A form that coils or spirals; a curl or swirl.
Synonyms:	curlicue, gyre, ringlet, roll
Usage:	He … made each individual line of the bewildering maze of whorls or curves or loops … stand out bold and black by reinforcing it with ink. Discuss.

Opus Dei

Opus Dei is a Roman Catholic lay order founded in 1928 in Spain, where it gained support from the government of Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War. Roughly one-third of its more than 85,000 members are celibate and live communally. Opus Dei seeks to promote traditional Catholic values and teachings and opposes liberalism and immorality. It also emphasizes preaching to government officials, intellectuals, and business executives. Why has Opus Dei been controversial among some Catholics? More… Discuss

“It seldom happens that any felicity comes…”: Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

It seldom happens that any felicity comes so pure as not to be tempered and allayed by some mixture of sorrow.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Discuss

Other quotations from Cervantes:

When the severity of the law is to be softened,
let pity, not bribes, be the motive.
– Miguel de Cervantes

When thou art at Rome, do as they do at Rome.
– Miguel de Cervantes

The most difficult character in comedy is that of the fool,
and he must be no simpleton that plays that part.
– Miguel de Cervantes

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The Prado Museum Access Google Art Project from this post, or from the new widjet at euzicasa

The Prado Museum

The Museo del Prado is Spain’s national art museum. Founded in Madrid in 1818 by Ferdinand VII, it features one of the world’s finest collections of European art, much of which came from the royal holdings of the Habsburg and Bourbon monarchs in Spain. In 1872, the Prado acquired

The Prado Museum

many notable works formerly owned by Spanish convents and monasteries. It owns outstanding pieces by El Greco, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco de Goya. What is considered its most famous work on display? More… Discuss

Click here to access and select a virtual museum tour

 

today’s birthday: Oscar de la Renta (1932)

Oscar de la Renta (1932)

A Dominican-born American fashion designer, de la Renta has strongly influenced the fashion world since the 1960s. His designs encompass everything from bathing suits to wedding dresses, furs, perfumes, and linens, and he is known for his luxurious ready-to-wear fashions. After studies in Santo Domingo and Madrid, he began his career as staff designer for leading couturier Cristobal Balenciaga. He then moved to New York to design for Elizabeth Arden, following whose advice? More… Discuss

BBC News – In pictures: Rounding-up of wild horses in Galicia, Spain

 

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quotation: Delay always breeds danger and to protract a great design is often to ruin it. ( Miguel de Cervantes)

Delay always breeds danger and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Discuss

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Make Music Part of Your Life Series: Luigi Boccherini. Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid

[youtube.com/watch?v=p0f-rQV–jU]

Luigi Boccherini. Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid

Luigi Bocherini. Quintet en do major per a cordes (Opus 30) núm. 6. G. 324 (Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid).

Le Concert des Nations.
Director: Jordi Savall.

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QUOTATION: Miguel de Cervantes

 

Busto de Miguel de Cervantes / Bust of Miguel de Cervantes (Photo credit: Lumiago)

Take care, your worship, those things over there are not giants but windmills.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Discuss

QUOTATION: Miguel de Cervantes

Everyone is as God has made him, and oftentimes a great deal worse.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Discuss

 

LISZT Un Sospiro Etude de Concert 3 D flat major – Pianist Michel Mananes

For better audio Franz Liszt Etude de Concert no. 3 ” Un Sospiro ” click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVhFQy…

Michel Mañanes plays Franz Liszt Etude de Concert no. 3 ” Un Sospiro ” in D flat Major. With recitals for Europe and south america especially. He won first prize in several young piano competitions. He is Piano Teacher in Madrid and continue to give concerts. 
http://www.myspace.com/michelmananesc…
Michel Mañanes has obtained, recently, the University Title of “Expert in Pianistic Interpretation”, gotten with “Cum Laudae” by unanimous vote (International University of Andalusia)

“Un sospiro” (Italian, for “a sigh”) is the third of Franz Liszt’s Trois études de concert (Three Concert Études). It is also sometimes referred to as Étude No. 39, and is a piano solo in D-flat major. However, it is likely that the title did not originate with Liszt. Although there is no evidence that he actively attempted to remove the subtitle “Un sospiro,” none of the editions or subsequent printings of the Trois études published by Kistner during Liszt’s lifetime used them; he simply ignored such subtitles in later years, always referring with his pupils to the piece by key.

THOUSANDS OF SHEEP FLOCK TO MADRID

It is not every day that one can witness thousands of sheep crowding the streets of a major city, but that was the sight in Madrid this past Sunday, as shepherds paraded a flock of more than 2,000 sheepthrough the capital. For more than 700 years, Spanish shepherds have had the right to use droving paths that wind across what were once open fields and woodlands for their seasonal livestock migration. As Madrid grew, some of these paths were enveloped by the urban center, but each year, a group of shepherds upholds the tradition and drives its flock through the city. More… Discuss

 

Joaquin Rodrigo: Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a Gentleman)

Joaquín Rodrigo (born Sagunto, Valencia, 22 November 1901; died Madrid, 6 July 1999) was a Spanish composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Although he was blind from an early age, he became one of the most important Spanish composers of the 20th century. He wrote a lot of music for guitar, which helped classical guitar music worldwide to become more popular. His most famous work is a guitar concerto called Concierto de Aranjuez.

Early life
Rodrigo became blind at the age of three after becoming ill with diphtheria. When he was eight he began to learn piano and violin. He also learned the guitar, but never became very good at it, although he was to compose some wonderful music for the instrument.

After studying music in Valencia he went to Paris where he studied with Paul Dukas in Paris. After a short time back in Spain he returned to Paris to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel and then under André Pirro. In 1925 he received Spain’s National Prize for Orchestra for his pieces Cinco piezas infantiles (Five Children’s Pieces). In 1947 Rodrigo became a professor of music history in Madrid, a job that was made especially for him.

His famous concertos

Rodrigo’s most famous work, de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris. It is a concerto for solo classical guitar and orchestra. There are three movements. The middle movement is a slow movement with a tune which is played on the cor anglais. It has become one of classical music’s best-loved tunes.

After the success of this piece several other musicians asked him to write concertos for them, e.g the flautist James Galway, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the guitarist Andrés Segovia, for whom he composed Fantasía para un gentilhombre in 1954. Another of his works is called Concierto Andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra.

 Honours

In 1991, Rodrigo was raised to the nobility by King Juan Carlos; he was given the title Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez (Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez). He was given the Prince of Asturias Award in 1996, the highest honour a Spanish civilian can get. He was made Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1998.

 Personal life

He married Victoria Kamhi, a Turkish-born pianist, in 1933. They had a daughter called Cecilia. Rodrigo died in 1999 in Madrid at the age of 97. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria are buried at the cemetery at Aranjuez.
(Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Rodrigo)

Today’s Birthday: Diego Velasquez

Diego Rodriguez de Silva yDiego Velázquez (1599)
The most celebrated painter of the Spanish school, Velázquez was one of the outstanding artists of the 17th century. His early works were mostly religious or genre scenes. After arriving in Madrid in 1623, he painted a portrait of King Philip IV that won him immediate success and an appointment as court painter. Notable among his portraits is his masterpiece, Las Meninas—The Maids of Honor. Why is there debate about who the true subject of the painting is? More… Discuss