Madonna and Child c. 19th century

Curator: The Harvard Art Museums hold this print, "Madonna and Child," by Girolamo Geniani. I'm struck by the emotional restraint. Editor: I feel a strange stillness too. Like they're posing for a family portrait, but the baby's about to wriggle free. It's tender, but a bit…formal. Curator: That formality is deliberate. Images of the Madonna and Child served as powerful symbols of maternal virtue and religious devotion, especially in domestic settings. Editor: I see that, but I also think it's trying to say something beyond religious piety. There's a warmth in the way she holds him, like a secret promise. Curator: The politics of imagery are always at play, of course, but maybe it's precisely in that tension between public role and private feeling that we find the artwork’s power. Editor: Yes, a quiet strength. Almost like she knows more than she lets on. Now I'm feeling it.