An Allegory with Venus, Mars, Cupid and Time 1626 1626

Guercino made this oil painting in 1626, using the classic ingredients of canvas, ground pigments and oils, and varnish. These materials were of course made by others, within a complex early modern economy of extraction, processing and trade. Guercino’s labor was to skillfully arrange them on the canvas, in a way that would appeal to a wealthy patron. The smooth rendering of flesh, drapery and metal armor, so typical of the Baroque era, involved countless hours of applying thin layers of paint. Notice how Time, in the upper right, exposes Cupid to Mars – love made vulnerable to war. But also notice the net draped over the infant; a hand-made object, suggesting the entanglements of these powerful forces, and perhaps the patient labor that will be required to resolve them. The point is this: even a painting like this is not just about skillful artistry. It is also about the society that enabled its making, and the many forms of production that it represents.