X-radiograph(s) of "Charity" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "Charity," originally by Lucas Cranach the Younger, held here at the Harvard Art Museums. Stark, isn’t it? Editor: It's like looking at a ghost. So much of what we think we know about an artwork vanishes, and we're left with the bare bones—the support structure and pigments. It's all process and layering. Curator: Yes, it really strips away the surface illusion. Suddenly, you're contemplating the physicality of creation—the artist's hand, the evolution of the composition itself. It feels so exposed, almost vulnerable. Editor: Absolutely. X-rays are such great tools for revealing the artist's process, pentimenti, and the underlayers of paint. It's like a secret language only the X-ray machine can translate. Curator: In a way, it reframes what "Charity" can mean to us. Not just a virtuous figure, but a material object, shaped by labor and time. Editor: Well, it's certainly given me a new appreciation for the unseen efforts behind the art. Curator: Exactly! It's about the invisible labor that makes visible beauty possible.