Birth of Memnon 1558

Curator: Giorgio Ghisi, an Italian engraver active in the 16th century, created this print, titled "Birth of Memnon." The piece is currently part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: It feels like a snapshot of ancient luxury and labor, look at the detail of the bedclothes, the architecture. You can almost feel the textures. Curator: Absolutely. The print depicts the mythological birth of Memnon, son of Tithonus and Eos. What stands out to me is the intersection of divinity and mortality represented here. Eos, a goddess, experiences the very human act of childbirth. Editor: And there’s a real emphasis on the physicality of that experience. The reclining mother, the attendants, the vessel beneath the bed catching blood–all speak to the raw, material reality of birth, contrasting with the idealized figures of the gods and angels. Curator: That's precisely where Ghisi challenges the traditional narrative. By placing the birth within such a visibly material context, it forces us to reconsider the very nature of divinity. How do we reconcile the ethereal with the corporeal? Editor: The labor of creation is front and center, blurring those high/low boundaries. It’s a powerful statement, transforming what could be a simple mythological scene into a complex meditation on the human condition. Curator: Indeed, Ghisi prompts us to consider the universal experiences that bridge the gap between gods and mortals, and how those experiences shape our understanding of identity. Editor: And the means by which that bridge is constructed, the tools, the processes, the bodies involved, cannot be ignored. They ground the story in a reality we can grasp.