Baroque · 17th century

Las Hilanderas

Las Hilanderas (17th century) by Diego Velázquez. Its palette is led by dark taupe (#3a3226, 31%) and taupe (#5a4b35, 26%), with accents of putty and pale grey. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, muted and warm.

Color note

Velázquez worked from a restrained palette of earth colors, lead white, vermilion and blacks, and was admired for his silvery greys. Manet, who studied him in Madrid, called him the painter of painters.

Palette

#3a3226 MG 177 dark taupe 30.9% of canvas
#5a4b35 MG 176 taupe 25.6% of canvas
#766a58 MG 175 stone 19.5% of canvas
#20201e MG 222 charcoal 15.2% of canvas
#a49c92 MG 173 putty 7.2% of canvas
#d3d0c7 MG 212 pale grey 1.5% of canvas

Color families

Brown 70%, Black 20%, Gray 9%, White 0%, Blue 0%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.41
Contrast: 0.43
Vividness: 0.026
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 187 cells
Hue range: 0.31
Focus: 0.00

Composition

53% of the visual weight is in the right half, 56% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.36 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 17% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 32% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 17th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 220.0 × 289.0 cm
Genre: genre art
Made in: Spain
Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid

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