Harvard College Bookplate with the Christo et Ecclesiæ Seal 1765

Editor: So, here we have the Harvard College Bookplate with the Christo et Ecclesiæ Seal, created in 1765 by Nathaniel Hurd. It's a print, a really detailed one! It reminds me a little of old maps, kind of…official looking. I’m curious, what’s your interpretation of this piece? Curator: Official, yes, but official with a twinkle! The severe formality is undercut by those sun faces, top and bottom, aren't they marvelous? One peeking over books, the other under what’s meant to be a serious institutional pronouncement. I always imagine them winking, almost mocking the gravity they’re meant to uphold. What does Harvard, for instance, actually mean when it uses the phrase "Christo et Ecclesiae?" For Christ and the Church...but what does THAT really *mean*, you know? What do you make of those cherubic fellas hovering around the shield? Editor: Good question. I guess, uh, those suns and cherubs were supposed to be common elements? Are they like saying, even the most official places can be bright and kind? The Christo et Ecclesiae, does it remind us of the historic bond that connects religion with educational institutions? Curator: Exactly! It also hints at the interesting relationship between those lofty goals and the... well, slightly silly, cherubic aesthetic. Like mixing your philosophy professor with a Renaissance postcard, you know? Hurd probably understood the visual language he was using but tweaked it just enough to keep things interesting, almost as a subversive comment, no? Editor: Subversive, hmm… so, this bookplate tells more than just about Harvard. I mean it’s both grand *and* kind of funny and reflective of social roots of higher education from that time. I never expected a bookplate could be so...expressive. Curator: And that, my dear editor, is the magic trick art pulls every single time.