A cut representing so-called hieroglyphics (fol. c recto) 1499

Curator: This is a small, fascinating print from the Harvard Art Museums, titled "A cut representing so-called hieroglyphics." It's an anonymous work. Editor: My initial feeling is that it is playful, almost like a visual puzzle. The lines are crisp, but the elements are so strange! Curator: Indeed, these images draw upon the Renaissance fascination with Egyptian hieroglyphs, though they’re largely imagined. Consider the labor involved in carving these blocks, and the societal hunger for exotic knowledge they represent. Editor: The arrangement of the images as symbolic language reveals much about the period’s intellectual frameworks, how knowledge was disseminated, and what was considered worthy of preservation through print. Curator: Absolutely. And the very act of printing – the material process of inking and pressing – made these invented "hieroglyphs" accessible to a wider audience. Editor: It’s like a game of visual association, revealing much about the period's approach to knowledge and the authority conferred by the printed word. Curator: It’s a great reminder of how easily images and ideas can be re-contextualized through different means of production. Editor: Yes, these 'hieroglyphs' reflect the cultural and historical interpretations of their time, providing a window into a world that sought to understand itself through a lens of antiquity.