X-radiograph(s) of "Knight with Rosary" 

Curator: Here we have an X-radiograph of "Knight with Rosary", originally by Jan Mostaert. It’s held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It looks like a ghost! Ethereal, almost otherworldly. It is also very clinical. Curator: Indeed, the starkness highlights art's scientific side. Radiography reveals the artist's process, the hidden layers beneath the surface. Editor: The knight, stripped bare, becomes a symbol of vulnerability, doesn't he? Rosary beads suggest devotion. Curator: Yes, piety and perhaps penance were essential aspects of chivalry. What we see here is a cultural artifact. Editor: It leaves you pondering on faith, mortality, and art's enduring power to transcend its physical form.