Creation of Eve, after Giotto and Andrea Pisano, Campanile, Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy c. 20th century

Curator: This pencil drawing by Kenneth John Conant, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums, depicts the “Creation of Eve” after Giotto and Andrea Pisano's work on the Campanile of Florence Cathedral. Editor: It feels almost ethereal, doesn’t it? Like a ghost of the original story, a whisper of creation. All those faint lines... Curator: Precisely. The circular and hexagonal framework reminds us of the deliberate order imposed on divine acts, mirroring the symbolic geometry often found in religious art. Eve's emergence is not simply physical but also geometric, reflecting a cosmic blueprint. Editor: I love how Adam is just...there. Asleep, oblivious. Maybe that speaks to the passive role assigned to men in some creation myths? Or maybe he's just tired. Creating a whole world seems exhausting. Curator: Well, he is the foundation, quite literally. But it also touches on a deeper psychological theme: the birthing process as a form of separation, a new consciousness emerging from the old. Editor: It makes you think, doesn't it? About beginnings, about stories layered on stories, about the enduring power of symbols. Curator: Indeed. A testament to how echoes of the past continue to shape our present understanding.