X-radiograph(s) of "General Samuel Waldo" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "General Samuel Waldo", originally painted by Robert Feke. It's held here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Striking. The cracks create this web-like pattern that obscures and reveals simultaneously. What does it tell us about the painting's history? Curator: The craquelure reveals a great deal. The painting was exposed to varying temperatures and humidity over the decades. The original materials, the pigments, the ground layers, all responding to the socio-environmental conditions. Editor: So, it's a record of its own existence, reflecting a changing environment and its movement through different collections and display conditions. It also raises questions about art’s role: how do we preserve art and at what cost? Curator: Precisely. The materiality of the painting becomes a document in itself. Editor: Seeing it like this makes me consider the unseen life of the portrait, beyond its subject and the artist’s hand.