Prince Edward, Count Palatine 1656

Gerard van Honthorst made this portrait of Prince Edward, Count Palatine, using oil paint on canvas. Here, the canvas serves as a ground for the very delicate application of paint. The work is a striking record of conspicuous consumption. Just consider the armor worn by the subject. You can see the process of crafting the metal in its overall smoothness, and in the articulated shoulder plate, made of many small, overlapping pieces; a labor-intensive and highly skilled approach. It would have taken teams of specialist artisans to produce these materials, from miners extracting raw materials, to the tradespeople smelting, forging, and polishing the armor. These makers’ contributions are not usually acknowledged when we study such images. However, by considering the making, we can appreciate how the aesthetic qualities of an artwork are often tied to wider social issues. The history of art is directly linked to the history of labor and production.