Cloister at Santa Croce 1862

Giuseppe Abbati made this oil on canvas painting, Cloister at Santa Croce, at an unknown date. This is a painting that revels in process. Abbati has created a scene that foregrounds the elemental nature of the stone blocks, with their weight and texture evident through his bold brushstrokes. You can almost feel the weight of these components of architecture. The work is imbued with a sense of labor, both Abbati's as a painter, and the stonemasons and builders who would have hewn, carried, and placed these blocks. The stacked arrangement of the blocks allows for a play of light and shadow that hints at the slow passage of time, marking the cyclical rhythms of work. Abbati uses a traditional, highly skilled painting technique to depict his subject, but what is interesting here is the mundane nature of the subject itself. The painting asks us to consider labor, politics, and consumption. This painting encourages us to look beyond the final image and consider the whole world of work that made it possible.