The Flagellation 1471 - 1500

Editor: Here we have "The Flagellation," made sometime between 1471 and 1500, possibly in Lombardy, Italy. It's a pen and tempera drawing. The texture looks almost like a fresco transferred to paper; it makes me think about the architectural drawings of that era. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: What strikes me is how the artistic labor inherent in its production intersects with the labor and violence depicted. It's easy to overlook the intense process: grinding pigments, preparing the drawing surface, painstakingly applying pen and tempera. These materials, these actions, connect the artist’s hand to the scene of flagellation itself, making it a tangible expression of suffering. Editor: So, it’s less about the religious story, and more about the act of making, the physical process? Curator: Exactly. Consider the context: materials like tempera, made from egg yolk, were commonplace, yet transformed through artistic skill. Where were these materials sourced from? Who ground the pigments? Each stage of production represents someone’s labor and has value. Even the choice of pen and tempera, relatively accessible media, contrasts the grander oil paintings of the period. It democratizes the act of creation somewhat. Editor: That's interesting. I hadn't considered the material realities behind such a classic religious scene. It prompts questions about how resources shaped even depictions of faith. Curator: Precisely. The materiality leads to understanding its contemporary viewers, where would it have hung, who was the intended audience, and what was the artist trying to convey through both subject and medium? By appreciating art from a materialist perspective we can uncover deeper understandings of historical processes, labor practices, and the social conditions embedded within it.