The Alliance of Jacob and Laban 1635

Pietro da Cortona painted The Alliance of Jacob and Laban in oil on canvas. The smooth application of paint and the illusionistic depth of the scene exemplify the refined techniques of the Baroque era. But consider also the social context. Cortona would have employed assistants to prepare the canvas, grind pigments, and apply base layers of paint. The artist, in turn, would have carefully orchestrated the composition, applying his skill to render the flesh tones, drapery, and landscape with convincing realism. The layering of labor, from the anonymous studio assistants to the celebrated master, mirrors the hierarchical structure of 17th-century society. The very materials of the painting – the pigments, the canvas, the brushes – were products of a globalizing economy, connecting the artist's studio to distant sources of supply and systems of power. Appreciating the material qualities and social conditions of Cortona's art allows us to move beyond the surface, revealing the complex networks of labor and exchange that shaped its creation.