Piece I 15th-16th century

Curator: Here we have an anonymous piece, titled "Piece I," at the Harvard Art Museums. It's this small, rectangular panel. There is an unpolished vibe. What do you think of it? Editor: There's a kind of dance, a visual rhythm, in the swirling organic forms. The square seems to trap and highlight the very essence of human artifice. Curator: Yes, and those floral motifs—are they a yearning for something beyond the rigid structure, maybe a bit of nature? Editor: Perhaps. Or maybe they represent the cyclical nature of life, which human art always tries to capture, or at least frame, in its own way. Curator: It certainly makes you wonder about the hand that crafted this, their thoughts, and their world. The power of the anonymous artist is that their work continues to whisper to us across time. Editor: Exactly! The visual echoes continue; the dialogue never ceases.