Roman women offering their jewellery in defence of the state 1829

Vincenzo Camuccini painted 'Roman women offering their jewellery in defence of the state' on canvas, using oil paints, and with clear inspiration from classical antiquity. Although painting may seem quite distant from the worlds of craft and design, the work that goes into it is immense. The artist begins by priming the canvas, stretching it, and then the slow work of building up the image begins. The colors here are very interesting: ochres and reds especially dominate, and these would have been carefully mixed from powdered pigments. The very concept of 'offering' implies value and the surrendering of something precious. The artist would have wanted to represent these jewels as objects of high value, made through skilled labor and precious materials. In this picture, you can almost feel the weight of the historical narrative being depicted. Camuccini has chosen a subject that he clearly believes is of the utmost significance. The painting would likely have been commissioned, and its value determined by the amount of time spent on the canvas and the quality of the artist's hand. In the end, everything comes down to skilled labor.