X-radiograph(s) of "Portrait of a Man" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "Portrait of a Man," originally by Bartholomeus van der Helst. The film itself measures 14 by 17 inches. It's haunting, like a ghost trapped in canvas. Editor: The texture is what immediately strikes me. You can see the weave of the canvas so clearly. It exposes the material support, disrupting our conventional viewing of the painting. Curator: Absolutely. Beyond the literal weave, think of the social fabric. Portraits were potent symbols of status, and this one carries echoes of Dutch Golden Age values, filtered now through the ghostly lens of technology. Editor: The X-ray reveals the underpainting—the artist’s hand at work, the labor beneath the surface. It democratizes the image somehow, peeling back layers of artifice. Curator: And it's a reminder of mortality, isn't it? We see the material, but the portrait subject becomes spectral, an image of a man mediated by science. Editor: Yes, a fascinating look at process and the passage of time, made visible through material investigation.