The Death of Paulus Aemilius at the Battle of Cannae 1773

John Trumbull painted this scene of “The Death of Paulus Aemilius at the Battle of Cannae” using oil on canvas. Like many history paintings, this canvas relies on complex systems of labor. Consider the farmers who grew the flax for the canvas, the miners who extracted pigment from the earth, the tradesmen who processed these raw materials. Then, the skilled work of the artist himself to pull all of these resources together to produce an image. The artist's hand carefully built up layers of paint to create depth and drama, capturing the chaos of battle through brushwork and composition. The rough texture of the canvas is evident, grounding the grand subject in the physical reality of its making. Trumbull clearly understood that a painting like this wasn't just about illustrating the past, but it was also about the present. By considering the materials, making, and context we see an aesthetic that encompasses the economic realities that make art possible.