Boyar with the cup 

Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky painted this Boyar with oil on canvas. The opulent details immediately grab your eye, rendered with remarkable skill in a traditional medium. But think about what is being shown here: layers of garments, a fur coat, jewelry, and a carved cup. Each of these bespeaks considerable labor. The fur represents hunting and tanning; the cloth, spinning and weaving. And the jewelry? That would have taken a goldsmith many hours. Even the making of paint, from pigment to oil to canvas, involved many unseen hands. Makovsky has given us an image of wealth, but he also prompts questions about its origins. Who did all this work, and where did the Boyar get the resources to commission it? He holds the cup as if entitled to it. And perhaps he was. But at the expense of others. The point is that materials, making, and context matter a great deal. They challenge traditional ideas about fine art.