Christ on the Cross adored by Saints Monica, Augustine, Mary Magdalen, Jerome and Bridget of Sweden 

Sandro Botticelli made this painting of ‘Christ on the Cross adored by Saints’ using tempera on wood, sometime in the late 15th century. Tempera is a process that involves binding pigment with egg yolk. It's demanding, but it yields a particular luminosity. Look at how Botticelli uses it to distinguish the sacred realm from the earthly one; the solid black background throws Christ's body into stark relief. There’s a great deal of labor involved in this painting, both in the grinding and mixing of the pigments, and in the brushwork itself. But what is the true work here? Is it the physical effort or the intellectual and spiritual intention? Botticelli was working at a time when these categories were starting to separate, and we can see that tension in this image. The artist is not a mere craftsman; he is a creator, capable of investing material with transcendent meaning. Paying attention to the materials, the way things are made, and the context in which they’re produced allows us to gain a richer appreciation of an artwork’s significance.