Venerable Idleness, Queen of Cockaigne; a fat woman seated on a movable toilet chair being waited on and fed by seven women 1565

This etching, made by Nicolò Nelli around the 1570s, satirizes the concept of a "land of plenty". Nelli created the print by incising lines onto a metal plate, inking it, and then pressing it onto paper. This process allowed for multiple impressions to be made, and the dissemination of his message to a wide audience. The stark contrast between the dark lines and the light background emphasizes the figures, their clothing and the tableware on the table. The scene shows a corpulent woman, presumably royalty, being waited on by seven other women. Here, the artist is addressing themes of labor, class, and consumption through the sharp, clear lines of the etching. The contrast between the labor of the seven women and the central figure's idleness is emphasized through the detail and precision of the lines. Understanding Nelli's technique reminds us that the meaning of an artwork lies not only in its subject, but also in the way it was made, and how its mode of production comments on social structure.