Three Saints: Roch, Anthony Abbot, and Lucy 1508 - 1518

This panel painting of Three Saints was produced in Venice around 1500, by Cima da Conegliano, using oil paint on wood. Focusing on materiality, the smooth surface of the oil paint gives the artwork an enameled appearance. Its colors have retained their vibrancy over the centuries. Looking closely, the painting’s materiality gives clues to its making, in terms of labor and production. The artist employed a glazing technique, layering thin, translucent coats of paint on top of one another. This time-consuming process increased the depth and intensity of the colors, as well as the overall realism. The artist would have ground and mixed his own pigments, combining raw materials like minerals and plants with a binding agent, usually linseed oil. The preparation of oil paint was a skilled process, with different pigments requiring different handling and treatments. This panel represents not just artistic creativity, but also considerable material knowledge, and manual labor. Understanding the traditional techniques and material processes behind the artwork opens up richer possibilities for interpretation, and challenges notions of a divide between the fine and applied arts.