This painting by the 19-year-old Velázquez shows a kitchen scene with a sullen young cook and an older woman surrounded by simple but exquisitely painted objects: silver-skinned fish, papery-skinned garlic, and eggs, their chalky white shells giving off a dull gleam.

On the wall behind the two women is a second scene – a hatch in the wall reveals a room beyond. (Some art historians have suggested it is a painting, or even a reflection.) Whichever, it shows the biblical scene of Christ in the house of Martha and Mary.

Why has Velázquez relegated the religious scene to the background? And how do the two scenes relate to each other? The biblical scene is clearly meant to inform our attitude to the sulky young maid, but exactly how is rather a mystery.

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