Flagellation c. 17th century

Curator: This etching by Jacques Callot is called Flagellation, and it's housed right here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s brutal. That stark contrast makes the violence leap out, doesn't it? Like a nightmare caught in miniature. Curator: Callot lived through some turbulent times. His images of war and its impact on everyday people are pretty well known. This work, though, speaks more to the institutionalized cruelty of the era. Editor: The architecture feels so oppressive, doesn't it? That heavy archway almost seems to be crushing the figures within. It's as if the space itself is complicit in the torture. Curator: Definitely. And consider the scale. It is so small—under 7 x 6 centimeters—making the horror portable, reproducible, part of the public consciousness. Editor: A chilling thought—packaged cruelty. It does make you wonder about the gaze, doesn't it? Our gaze, the artist's gaze... What does it mean to witness suffering represented like this? Curator: Art makes us ask these questions, doesn't it? Perhaps that's its uneasy purpose. Editor: Indeed. To sit with discomfort, to see what we often choose to ignore.