A Roman Road 1648

Nicolas Poussin's "A Roman Road" was created with oil on canvas, a material associated with the fine arts since the early Renaissance. However, even as we admire Poussin's artistry, it's important to consider the processes through which this image came into being. Paint, after all, is a material compounded of ground pigment and oil, requiring skilled labor to produce. The canvas itself begins as humble flax, grown and woven, and then primed. The brushes, too, rely on animal hair carefully set in handles. And let’s not forget the mining of lead for paint, one of the dangerous trades in 17th-century Europe. When we consider all this, Poussin's classical landscape opens up to reveal a wider world of making, a world often overlooked in favor of an emphasis on aesthetic qualities. We are reminded that art is not just about beauty, but also about the transformation of raw materials into something meaningful.