Balustrade met reliëf van de San Marco in Venetië before 1885

This photograph by Carl Heinrich Jacobi captures a balustrade with relief in Venice, Italy. Look closely, and you will see the way in which the stone has been worked to create texture and depth, to bring the reliefs of the lion and cross to life. The handcraft skills and traditions of stone carving give the balustrade its aesthetic and social significance. The photograph not only captures a physical object, but also evokes something of the labor and cultural traditions involved in the production of the balustrade. This includes the extraction, transportation, and carving of the stone, as well as the skilled labor of the stonemasons involved. These are all processes that have historically been deeply connected to social hierarchies and power structures. By attending to the material qualities, we can come to understand the important social and historical dimensions of the balustrade.