X-radiograph(s) of "Madonna and Child" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "Madonna and Child" after Agnolo Bronzino, presently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It presents a spectral view of a classic image. Editor: It's eerie, isn't it? A ghostly echo. The checkered pattern makes it feel like a fragmented memory, stripped of color and flesh. Curator: Indeed. The image is stripped bare, revealing the bones of the composition, the initial layers and corrections. It highlights Bronzino's process. Editor: It speaks to the labor involved, almost violently exposing the hidden materiality. The build-up of paint, the structure underneath… Curator: Consider the cultural weight, too. The Madonna and Child is a loaded symbol, but this rendering removes much of its comforting familiarity. Editor: Almost a brutal honesty in its dissection. It's interesting to see how the image changes as it ages and is deconstructed this way. Curator: Precisely, we are seeing something new by looking into the past. Editor: Quite. It's been a revealing experience.