X-radiograph(s) of "Rev. William Welsteed" 

Curator: This is an x-radiograph of John Singleton Copley's "Rev. William Welsteed," here at the Harvard Art Museums. It's like seeing a ghost, isn't it? Editor: It's less ghost, more autopsy! Look at the canvas weave so prominent. The stark contrast between what is, and what was. Curator: Exactly! You glimpse the physical construction, the artist's process, almost like a secret revealed. What was Copley thinking as he built up those layers? Editor: I'm thinking about the labor involved, preparing the canvas, grinding pigments. We see art's physical reality, not just the illusion. Curator: And it prompts me to consider the painting's hidden history, the unseen decisions that formed the final image. It becomes about the possibilities, the "what ifs." Editor: For me, the beauty is in the bones – the raw materials and the artist's hand wrestling with them. Curator: So, we both agree that this x-ray reveals something deeper than just an image of a reverend, just in different ways. Editor: Precisely. It's a material testament.