Detail of Justice, Raphael's Stanze, Vatican Palace, Rome, Italy c. 20th century

Curator: Here we have Kenneth John Conant’s "Detail of Justice, Raphael's Stanze, Vatican Palace, Rome, Italy." Editor: What immediately strikes me is the starkness – the almost ethereal quality of the lines on the page. It's like justice itself is a fleeting idea, barely sketched into existence. Curator: Well, it's fascinating to consider Conant's process here, isn't it? This drawing, likely a preparatory sketch, reveals the labor involved in capturing Raphael's vision. Editor: Exactly. The materiality of this work whispers about architectural sketches, the precise labour of replicating, and the social function of the Vatican itself. I find it interesting how the labor of making this sketch almost mirrors the concept of justice itself: meticulous, carefully drawn, and requiring a certain level of precision. Curator: Indeed, and perhaps we're also seeing Conant grapple with the very idea of justice, its weight, its balance – the sword, the cherubic figures… It’s as if he is attempting to truly understand the spirit of Raphael’s Justice. Editor: It's a fascinating intersection of artistic intentions and material realities, wouldn't you say? It shows us how an ideal is translated through labor and medium.