In a dim workshop women spin and wind wool; in a bright alcove behind, elegant ladies stand before a tapestry. Long read as a view of a royal tapestry works, it is now understood as Ovid's tale of Arachne, the weaver who challenged the goddess Athena. Most scholars date it to the late 1650s, though some argue for the 1640s.
Look closer
The tapestry at the back copies Titian's Rape of Europa, then in the Spanish royal collection. The spokes of the spinning wheel at left dissolve into a blur of motion.
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
