X-radiograph(s) of "Landscape" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "Landscape", originally by Jean-Francois Millet. It's held here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s ghostly, almost unsettling. The figure seems suspended, drained of vitality. Curator: Indeed. X-radiography reveals what lies beneath the surface, quite literally. It’s a look into Millet's process, his underpainting. The body may symbolize a hidden narrative. Editor: Or the body as labor? Millet often depicted rural laborers, and this view strips away any romanticism. It feels raw and exposes something vulnerable about the subject's position. Curator: Perhaps, yes. The technique transforms a serene landscape into a space of reflection on mortality and perhaps class. Editor: It challenges our idealized notions of pastoral life, doesn't it? Seeing the infrastructure of its creation opens up new narratives and disrupts the viewer's expectations. Curator: Absolutely. A fascinating intersection of art and technology. Editor: Agreed. It invites us to reconsider what we think we know about both art and the narratives they contain.