The head of Christ 1864

Edouard Manet’s “The Head of Christ” is an oil painting that is an excellent example of the tradition of figurative art. Manet's approach to painting is evident in the texture, weight and form, with each individual brushstroke building up to the overall image. His use of oil paint allows him to build up layers of pigment that create depth, volume and texture. This is seen particularly in the rendering of the face, with the application of highlights and shadows to suggest the form of Christ's face, as well as texture within his beard. What sets this painting apart from more ‘finished’ and polished academic painting is the raw quality of the marks, the way it has been built up through labor, with each brushstroke adding to the layers of the painting and the social context of the time. Paying attention to the materials and processes of painting, such as the social context of art, the labor that goes into its production and the artist’s own unique approach to image-making, allows us to move beyond traditional ways of considering what makes fine art ‘fine’.