Flagellation c. 15th century

Curator: Here we have a striking, unsigned woodcut print titled "Flagellation," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: What a stark image. The thin, dark lines carve out a scene of violence, and the angular figures feel rigid, almost mechanical, in their actions. Curator: The process of woodcut itself, being a relief printing technique, necessitates a certain directness of mark. The artist, by removing material to create the image, is inherently engaged with ideas of labor and production. Editor: Yes, but the symbolism! The halo, the whips, the postures—they all speak to the suffering of Christ, echoing through centuries of religious iconography, meant to evoke empathy, piety. Curator: But also power. Consider the socio-economic dynamics at play. Who commissioned this? For what purpose? The consumption of this image, even then, was a transaction, a means of disseminating a specific ideology. Editor: And I see the ways that ideology persists through repeated visual tropes, creating pathways for understanding across time. The image resonates because it taps into something primal. Curator: A powerful confluence, indeed, of material conditions and enduring symbols. Editor: It's a fascinating tension between the raw process and the resonant imagery.