The Meeting of Gautier, Count of Antwerp, and his Daughter, Violante c. 1787

Giuseppe Cades made this painting, "The Meeting of Gautier, Count of Antwerp, and his Daughter, Violante," using oil on canvas. Cades used the oil paint medium to blend colors and create soft, delicate forms. The fluid, almost effortless brushstrokes give the painting a sense of immediacy, as if the artist captured the scene in real-time. Cades also exploited the medium’s capacity for glazing, layering thin, translucent veils of color to build up the figures and create a sense of depth. Looking closely, you will see that Cades was able to depict a range of textures, from the smooth skin of the countess to the rough fabric of the beggar's clothes. This attention to materiality gives the painting a tactile quality, inviting us to imagine the weight and feel of each object. Cades made a conscious decision to elevate the status of those considered to be low in society, giving us insight into labor, class and social context of the time.