X-radiograph(s) of "Nativity" Possibly 15 - 89

Curator: Well, if we're going beneath the surface, let's consider this X-radiograph of "Nativity," believed to be originally painted by Andrea del Sarto, now residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's like an archaeological dig without the dirt! The bones of the painting revealed. It's so… starkly structural. Curator: Indeed. What you're seeing is the wooden panel beneath the paint layers, the support for a Renaissance masterpiece. The dark lines, those are likely where the panels are joined together. Editor: The hidden labor! I find myself wondering about the wood itself. Where did it come from? Who prepared it? Whose labor literally supports the image of the Nativity? Curator: Exactly, it's a reminder that every artwork is built on layers of history, both visible and invisible, from the artist's hand to the timber that holds it all together. It's like a ghost of the artistic process. Editor: It makes me think about access, too. This radiographic view is, in some ways, more democratic. The surface, the artistry—that's traditionally been for a select audience. The structure? We can all see that now. Curator: That's a beautiful thought. Maybe seeing the raw foundations helps us understand not just the artwork, but the very structures of art and society themselves. Editor: Perhaps. It certainly gives me a new appreciation for the unseen, the overlooked, and the labor that goes into creating something we often only see on the surface.