The interplay of separately lit spaces, in the foreground versus the background, was anticipated by the artist's earlier painting The Tapestry Weavers. The pairing of the nun 
The interplay of separately lit spaces, in the foreground versus the background, was anticipated by the artist's earlier painting The Tapestry Weavers. The pairing of the nun and man-servant on the right of the canvas parallels the shadowy and silvery depiction of the royal couple in the center.  Two large Ruben-like paintings hang above the scene as a young boy threatens to kick a contented looking dog and a painter tries to work in his studio.  But the most enigmatic parts of the painting are the man in the open doorway in the background and the dwarf whose pose echoes that of the Infanta.  FTP, identify this 1656 depiction of "The Maids of Honor" by Velazquez.
The interplay of separately lit spaces, in the foreground versus the background, was anticipated by the artist's earlier painting The Tapestry Weavers.
Las Meninas (accept early buzz of Maids of Honor)