Letter C 1536 - 1568

Editor: This is an anonymous piece titled "Letter C" from the Harvard Art Museums collection. The detailed ornamentation feels quite whimsical. How do you interpret its visual language? Curator: I see this initial as a contested site. The letterform itself, a symbol of language and power, is here literally entwined with nature and the human form. Who gets to define and control these symbols? What does it mean to adorn or even obscure the authority of the letter? Editor: So, it's about questioning the established order through art? Curator: Precisely. Even the cherubic figure, is it innocent, or does it represent a disruption of societal norms? It challenges us to look deeper. Editor: That makes me see the piece in a whole new light. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. It's through these questions that we can activate the past and reimagine our present.