Diego Velazques

So we have talked about this painting for some time already in class but I will attempt to add my own incite.

This painting is a representation of the story in Ovid of Arachne and
Athena. The older looking woman on the right hand side of the image is Athena. She appears to be talking to the woman directly to the left of her who is holding the red curtain. Though initially I didn't think much of this I wonder if the one bright color in the painting might be significant. This might be an awareness of end of the story. The bright red is usually a symbol of blood and though Arachne doesn't die she is transformed in to a spider; a horrific result.
On the right side of the image are several other women who are in the process of spinning. Though I am unsure of which of the women is Arachne specifically I would guess that she is the one in the foreground wearing the dark blue shirt and white shirt.
Overall the front of the picture seems to be the process of spinning. The back of the picture seems to be a presentation of one of the tapestries. I would guess it is Arachne's tapestry because it is a large image with smaller images around the sides. Though the smaller images are unclear the larger one doesn't seem to depict anything that is flattering to the gods and goddesses. Again I am not sure who is who in the back of the painting.
Overall I can slightly understand why it took so long for people to see that this painting is actually about the story of Arachne. Velazques didn't include an image of Arachne in the form of a spider which is the result of the story.