Patriotic Games 

Here we see a scene painted by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, using oil on canvas. The figures here appear to be ancient people, rendered in a deliberately archaic way. The artist has built up the forms by layering thin veils of pigment. This subdued palette gives the whole composition a cool, restrained, and almost fresco-like feel, as though we are looking at a mural on an ancient wall. It certainly doesn't have the slick, bravura quality of contemporary academic painting. The real subject here may be the artist’s attitude towards the material of paint itself. Instead of using the medium to create an illusionistic effect, he seems to be emphasizing its inherent flatness. It is as though he wants us to consider the very substance of his art, rather than getting lost in the narrative. In doing so, he elevates the status of painting as a craft.