Letter Q c. 16th century

Editor: Here we have an intriguing woodcut print called "Letter Q" by an anonymous artist. It’s a very graphic image, with a figure intertwined with the letter. What do you see in this piece, especially considering its historical context? Curator: This "Letter Q" is evocative of illuminated manuscripts, where letters were not just text, but symbolic carriers of meaning and power. Consider the labor involved in creating just one letter—who was afforded the privilege of literacy, and whose stories were deemed worthy of illumination? Editor: That's a great point about access. It makes me think about the democratization of knowledge. Curator: Precisely. The printing press enabled wider dissemination, but these initial letterpress designs still harked back to that earlier exclusivity, a visual tension between old power structures and the dawn of a new era. Editor: It's fascinating to consider how even something as simple as a letter can tell such a complex story. Curator: Indeed. By examining these seemingly simple artistic choices, we reveal broader cultural dialogues.