Apostles 1473

Carlo Crivelli made this panel of an Apostle in the late 15th century, using tempera on wood. Look closely, and you’ll see that gold leaf has been meticulously applied to create the halo. Crivelli was a master of tempera, a technique where pigments are mixed with egg yolk. This gives a characteristic matte finish and allows for incredibly fine detail, as we can see in the apostle’s beard and the delicate script in the book he holds. But this wasn't simply a case of technical virtuosity; it was intensely laborious. The grinding and mixing of pigments, the slow build-up of layers, and the burnishing of gold leaf, all demanded immense patience and skill. Consider too, that the wooden panel itself would have required careful preparation. These practices come from a lineage of artisanship distinct from fine art; Crivelli was as much a craftsman as he was a painter. This approach reminds us that art making is always rooted in material processes, involving time, labor, and skillful manipulation. By recognizing this, we can begin to challenge the traditional hierarchy that separates art from craft.