内容摘要：, Steinbrenner Field, while repairs from a hurricane

, Steinbrenner Field, while repairs from a hurricane

Novelist John Banville poses between Tiziano’s ‘Sisyphus’ on left and Tityus on right at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)Novelist John Banville poses between Tiziano’s ‘Sisyphus’ on left and Tityus on right at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Still, he doesn’t want to be alone with the multitude of watchers hanging from the walls of the labyrinthine galleries.“I don’t like coming here after hours, it’s too eerie. The pictures, they look at you,” Banville said turning away from the glare of Diego Velázquez himself looking down from the Spaniard’s greatest work, “The huge 17th-century painting shows the Infanta Margarita, her young ladies-in-waiting, a dwarf, a buffoon with a dog, a nun, a mysterious man exiting through a door, a mirror reflecting King Phillip IV and his queen — and also Velazquez, stepping back from his canvas and looking straight down at the viewer.

Novelist John Banville poses in front of Tiziano’s ‘The Emperor Charles V at Muhlberg’ at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)Novelist John Banville poses in front of Tiziano’s ‘The Emperor Charles V at Muhlberg’ at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The painting — a paragon of Baroque sophistication — has fascinated generations of artists. Banville, with his love of poetic detail, is no different.

“I find that ‘Las Meninas’ is always a surprise to me, and a challenge,” Banville told The Associated Press during a recent stroll through the Prado.Oct. 28, 2023: Delegates from 65 countries meet in Malta to continue talks on Zelenskyy’s peace plan. Russia, which has dismissed the talks, was not invited.

June 15, 2024: Representatives of 92 nations meet in, to discuss Ukraine’s peace plan. Despite the growing number of delegates, a consensus remains elusive. The summit’s final statement is backed by most – although not all – participants.

Dec. 7, 2024: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump travels to Paris and meets Zelenskyy and other European leaders.Feb 12. 2025: Trump and Putin speak directly via telephone and agree to begin negotiations on ending Ukraine war in a phone call that abruptly ended a three-year U.S.-led effort to isolate Putin over Ukraine.