Rest 1644

Nicolaes Berchem painted 'Rest' using oil on canvas, a common choice for artists in the Dutch Golden Age. Berchem carefully built up the scene with layers of paint. You can see this in the subtle gradations of light and shadow, achieved by blending pigments. It’s easy to overlook the sheer labour involved, but consider how each color would have been mixed by hand, grinding raw minerals and combining them with oil. The painting depicts an idealized pastoral scene, a respite from the toils of everyday life. But we must remember that leisure is often built on someone else’s work. The painting itself is a commodity, bought and sold in the market. Even the act of creating the artwork depends on the infrastructure of production and consumption. Looking closely at the materiality and historical context of ‘Rest’ can reveal how ideas about labor, value, and beauty are all intertwined.