Ritratto Di Dama Dalla Piuma Rossa 

Tranquillo Cremona made this portrait with oil paints, a well-established medium that allowed him to render a fashionable sitter in fine detail. Consider the materiality of this portrait; Cremona applied the paint in a way that creates a sense of depth and texture, capturing not just the likeness of the woman, but also the textures and sheen of the fabrics she wears. Her velvet cloak and plumed hat speak to a social class afforded luxury, yet these fabrics were themselves products of human labor. The making of paint itself – grinding pigments, mixing them with oils – was an intensive process. The artist’s skill, too, was labor, acquired through years of training. Cremona has blended the pigments on the canvas, creating a soft and ethereal effect that was in line with the avant-garde artistic movements of his time. When we look closely, the painting reveals the complex relationship between materials, making, and social context. It questions the traditional distinctions between art and labor.