Roman Countryside 

"Roman Countryside" was painted by Camille Corot using oil on canvas, like so many landscape paintings of the 19th century. The material qualities of oil paint have everything to do with the finished work. Its viscosity allowed Corot to create subtle gradations of color and tone, especially in the expansive sky. The soft light appears to glow from within, in a way that would not be possible with other media. Corot was working at a time when painting was becoming increasingly industrialized. Pigments could be purchased ready-made in tubes, freeing artists from the labor of grinding their own. The canvas itself was now a standardized product. These developments certainly democratized painting, allowing more artists to practice with greater ease, but also raises the question of labor: what is gained, and what is lost, when artistic production becomes less hands-on?