Saint John the Baptist 1550

Editor: This is a drawing of Saint John the Baptist, made around 1550. It’s Anonymous and we see it in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, made with pen, ink and wash on paper. The hatching is amazing, creating a sense of depth, almost sculpting the figure from the page! What can you tell me about it? Curator: Considering the materials - pen, ink, wash - it becomes interesting to think about the relative cost of paper, and the access the artist might have had to these materials. How did the availability of paper at the time affect the proliferation of such drawings, compared to paintings, perhaps? Editor: So you’re saying the *means* of production shapes what could even be made? Curator: Exactly! Ink, wash and paper are less expensive than, say, oil paint and canvas. This meant more access for more artists, thus potentially more freedom in subject matter because there was less reliance on patronage for essential materials. I'm intrigued by how a devotional image might still circulate with this difference of cost - for whom, and under what circumstances? How does it compare to luxury prints meant for collectors? Editor: I hadn’t considered the economics behind artmaking that way. Now I see it also involves social networks! Curator: Precisely! The materials available and the economic systems supporting their use directly influenced the style, scale, and even subject of artworks from this period. How does this realization change how we perceive this drawing now? Editor: I'm not sure I can ever look at an artwork quite the same way again. I will now see the materiality of the art. Curator: That’s the beauty of materiality. You never look at *anything* the same way again.