Cavalcature che conducono le bestie bovine in Roma, per macellare (Cattle Driven to the Slaughter in Rome) (Plate 16) 1809

This print was made by Bartolomeo Pinelli, around 1819, using etching. The lines you see are not drawn by hand, but bitten into the metal printing plate with acid. Look closely and you can discern a hierarchy of labor. The riders on horseback, escorting the cattle into Rome, are clearly of a higher social status than the beasts they drive. The image is about the consumption of meat, and it also implies the consumption of labor. The cattle, the drivers, and ultimately the consumers, are all part of a food chain, a system of production and consumption. Pinelli’s etching captures a moment in this cycle, emphasizing the relationship between city and country, consumer and producer. This work invites us to reflect on the labor and processes behind the things we consume, and the social structures that underpin them. It asks us to consider how everyday activities like eating are embedded in larger economic and social contexts.