Pie 

José Garnelo made this drawing of a foot with graphite on paper. Garnelo was a Spanish artist, active at a time when Spanish artists looked to the academic tradition of art to represent aspects of their social world. This drawing might seem like a simple anatomy study, but it also refers to how artists were trained in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing from plaster casts was central to the curriculum in European art academies. Students progressed from copying simple geometric forms and fragments of the body like this foot to more complex subjects like the full human figure. This pedagogy emphasized careful observation and technical skill, but also promoted a conservative approach to art that valued tradition and discouraged experimentation. Art historians use sources such as archival documents and exhibition reviews to understand the social and institutional contexts that shape an artist’s work.