Saturn 

Editor: This intriguing piece is called "Saturn", made with engraving on print during the Renaissance by Sebald Beham. The mood is kind of somber, and I immediately get a slightly unsettling feeling. It makes you wonder what exactly is going on here. What do you make of this image? Curator: Unsettling is a perfect word, wouldn’t you say? See how the crisp lines of the engraving, almost clinical in their detail, depict Saturn – or Chronos, devouring Time himself– a paradox right there. He's usually the bringer of abundance and prosperity, yet… what a picture! But it goes beyond, does it not? Look closely at Saturn holding his child. What thoughts does that spark within you? Editor: It feels…wrong. Like he doesn't cherish the child. A child shouldn't look so sad... And is that a scythe he's carrying? That can't be good! Curator: The scythe! Yes. Remember Time doesn't merely pass, does it? Time cuts, it harvests, it ends all things –even its own offspring. Beham’s print speaks of endings becoming beginnings, beginnings, inevitably rushing towards a conclusion... Think, then look again: Does anything look immortal in the print to you? Editor: No, not at all. So the piece is all about how everything fades. Is that part of the reason why it feels unsettling to me? Curator: Precisely! Our intuition reads beyond just the aesthetic; you noticed its thematic focus as well. It touches a nerve, reflecting on our fleeting existence. Did you see all that on the first viewing? What’s different now, do you think? Editor: Not at all! I appreciate having the symbolism and allegory unlocked. Before, I saw a sad image; now, I see something deeply philosophical about the very nature of our existence. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure. Now go ponder on mortality some more, with these new eyes, and make something of it.