Lohengrin: Act III, Love Scene 1886

Curator: Here we have Henri Fantin-Latour’s "Lohengrin: Act III, Love Scene," a piece at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's a powerful image, very dark and textural. I can almost feel the weight of the woman's robes, like rough woven wool or heavy linen. Curator: Indeed. Fantin-Latour often drew inspiration from Wagner, capturing pivotal moments in his operas. This scene, charged with emotional depth, taps into the archetypal narrative of love and sacrifice. Editor: The printmaking process itself mirrors that complexity. The density of line suggests engraving, the labor of creating a matrix from which multiple images could be produced, consumed... Curator: And disseminated widely, spreading Wagnerian ideals and Fantin-Latour’s symbolic interpretation of them. The way she gazes upward suggests a premonition of the tragic choice to come. Editor: The materiality and distribution become part of the message, democratizing high culture and making it tactile. Curator: It gives us much to consider how grand narratives are brought into the world. Editor: Absolutely, a confluence of myth, emotion, and the means of artistic production.