X-radiograph(s) of "Stephen Sewall" 

Curator: The X-radiograph of Robert Feke's "Stephen Sewall" offers us an unusual glimpse into the painting's hidden layers. The ghostly image almost feels like a metaphor for uncovering hidden histories. Editor: It does have a spectral quality. Seeing this portrait rendered in X-ray, I immediately think of the power structures inherent in portraiture, and how imaging technologies can expose or obscure certain truths. Curator: Absolutely. X-rays reveal the artist's process, the build-up of paint, even areas where the canvas has been repaired. It invites us to consider what narratives are embedded within the object itself, beyond the sitter's identity. How it has survived through time. Editor: It is fascinating to consider the portrait as a colonial construct—the negotiation of power, race, and class that would have informed the relationship between artist, sitter, and audience. What does this X-ray reveal about those dynamics? Curator: Perhaps, it highlights the fragility of such representations, the decay and vulnerability beneath the surface. This image shows the complex layers of not just paint, but also of history. Editor: Precisely, the visible cracking and repairs are traces of its journey. It underscores the constant negotiation between preserving the past and acknowledging its inherent biases and fractures.