Stag Running through a Forest c. 1873

Editor: Here we have Karl Bodmer's "Stag Running through a Forest," a small print at the Harvard Art Museums. It feels very intimate and wild to me. What symbols jump out at you? Curator: The stag itself is potent. Across cultures, it signifies nobility, virility, but also vulnerability. Consider the forest. Is it a refuge or a place of lurking danger? The image subtly explores that duality. Editor: So, the stag isn't just a pretty animal; it's carrying a lot of cultural weight? Curator: Absolutely. And Bodmer, drawing on a deep well of visual tropes, invites us to consider our own relationship with nature. What does the image evoke in you? Editor: I guess I see the stag as a symbol of freedom and escape, running away from something. Thank you! Curator: A very perceptive reading. It's a reminder that symbols resonate differently across time and individual experience.