Christ Raising the Son of the Woman of Nain c. 16th century

Editor: Here we have an anonymous engraving, Christ Raising the Son of the Woman of Nain. It’s quite a stark image, very linear, and the crowd is really pressing in. What symbolic readings do you find in this piece? Curator: The crowd is a key element, isn’t it? Consider the faces. There’s grief, yes, but also curiosity, even a kind of voyeurism. It speaks to the public nature of miracles in the cultural memory. Does it remind you of anything? Editor: Maybe the way we consume tragedies in the news? Curator: Precisely. The image encapsulates the tension between faith, spectacle, and the human desire to witness the extraordinary. It’s a story retold, re-experienced. Editor: I never thought about miracles having a public performance aspect. Thanks for the insight! Curator: My pleasure! We see what we seek to see.