I can't just don't add 'Las Meninas' by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) in such a list. This is the famous and curious case of a painting of a painter painting a painting, which is the artist himself that is pictured painting a painting that nobody could tell for sure about what it is. Confused? Las Meninas or the 'Maid of Honour' has been labeled as the 'Theology of Painting' because of the complex interplay between perspective and illusion. Spanish identity, royal succession, family history. What is Velazquez painting? A question that continues to perplex the art world.
Also the fact that who his self-portrait is most likely painting in the painting (the royal couple) is so barely noticeable, and the fact that he apparently is looking straight at us, gives this sensation that we are the subject of his painting. In resume, it has so many levels, that you can never fully grasp it, for the changing of meaning seems to never end. I bet that surrealist Magritte loved this one.
