Satan, Sin and Death; verso: Sketches of Women 18th-19th century

Editor: This is Thomas Stothard's "Satan, Sin and Death," a drawing with sketches of women on the back. It's so raw and energetic, almost like a fleeting thought. What catches your eye? Curator: It's the dynamism, isn't it? Stothard captures that Miltonic struggle, the sheer willfulness of Satan. I see him not just as evil, but as this tragically beautiful figure, forever battling against the inevitable. Do you feel that tension as well? Editor: I do now! It's like he's caught between worlds, that swirling figure in the back pulling him. Curator: Precisely. Perhaps Stothard is showing us the eternal battle within ourselves, the good and the bad always in conflict. Food for thought, isn't it? Editor: Definitely. I'll never look at Milton the same way again!