Apostle St Thaddeus 1610 - 1614

This is El Greco's Apostle St. Thaddeus, painted sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. The figure is built up through layers of oil paint, applied with loose, expressive brushwork. Notice how El Greco captures the play of light on fabric, creating a sense of volume and movement. But more than that, consider the labor involved. Each layer of paint required time and skill, a collaboration between artist and material. Oil paint, ground from pigment and oil, was itself a product of a complex system of trade and production. The canvas, woven from fibers, speaks to agricultural and textile industries. Even the brushes, made from animal hair, connect the artwork to broader economies of extraction. By attending to these material aspects, we move beyond a purely aesthetic appreciation of El Greco's work. We begin to see it as a product of its time, deeply enmeshed in social and economic networks, challenging distinctions between fine art and craft.