X-radiograph(s) of "St. Ignatius" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "St. Ignatius," based on an original artwork by Abraham van Diepenbeeck. Quite the ghostly visage, isn't it? Editor: Ghostly indeed! It's almost like a peek behind the curtain, a glimpse into the hidden layers of the artist's process and the materials themselves. All that shadowy texture, so unexpected. Curator: It’s the unseen made visible. X-rays reveal the density of pigments, the construction of the canvas. What you're seeing is how the artist built up the composition. Editor: The way the denser paints, likely lead-based, form these dark, almost ominous shapes...St. Ignatius, a figure of religious authority, reduced to skeletal forms. It's quite a deconstruction. Curator: Yes, it flips the script! Instead of devotional, it's investigative. We're not looking at the saint's story, but the story of how the painting was made. Editor: And perhaps, a meditation on time and impermanence. What we consider solid, lasting, is revealed to be just a complex interplay of matter. Something to ponder. Curator: A spectral reminder of the layers beneath the surface, both of art and perception. Editor: Absolutely. Makes you want to X-ray everything.