Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at home at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England 1843

Edwin Landseer painted this scene of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at home in Windsor Castle using oil on canvas. While seemingly a traditional portrait, Landseer’s choice of material and the way he has handled it speaks volumes. Oil paint, capable of capturing minute details, allows us to see not just the royal family, but the trappings of their wealth: the plush fabrics, ornate carpets, and, most tellingly, the dead game strewn across the floor. The painting method – layering thin glazes of oil – speaks to the labor and time involved in creating such a polished image. But, consider what this scene represents: leisure earned through inherited privilege, built on the back of colonial exploitation and industrial labor. The very materials of the painting – the pigments, the canvas – likely traveled vast distances, a testament to the reach of the British Empire. The painting is not simply a picture of the royals, it's a product of the very system they presided over. By understanding the materials and processes, we can see how deeply intertwined art, labor, and power truly are.