Tom Holland

And Laura, today we are looking at a painting that is very close to your heart.

It is Las Meninas, so that is maidservants, ladies-in-waiting, whatever.

by Diego de Velázquez, the great 17th century Spanish painter, Las Meninas, painted in 1656.

And it's close to you both because you think it is, what, the greatest painting?

But also it's personal to you, isn't it?

And also it will tell people who've never seen the painting what is in the painting.

Brilliant, Laura.

So that's the opening to your book, The Vanishing Man, a study of Velázquez.

And just listening to you read that, in this painting, we are in the afterwash of the Golden Age.

So the Golden Age was the 16th century, the age of Philip II, the Escorial, the Spanish Armada, the treasure fleets coming to Iberia from the New World, laden down with silver and gold.

But we're now in the 17th century, and there's a sense that Spain's greatness

is starting to fade.

I suppose the classic illustration of that, the classic cultural monument to that is Don Quixote, which is all about illusion and reality, the interface between what is created

and what reality actually is.

And in a sense, Las Meninas is playing with similar things, isn't it?

Because it's saying that, you know, in that account, you were saying you are entering a world that is created.

And what is the relationship of what is created to what is real?

And that is an issue for the whole Spanish court, because the show of the court is all about how Spain remains the world superpower.

But the reality is altogether shabbier and more run down.

Thank you for listening.