Dilapidated Hut c. 17th century

Curator: Looking at this print, I see a kind of haunting beauty. Editor: Haunting is right. It's like a forgotten fairytale, grim and a little… leaky. Curator: Indeed. This is Allart van Everdingen's "Dilapidated Hut," currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Everdingen, born in 1621, was deeply interested in landscape and particularly in scenes that captured a sense of nature reclaiming human structures. Editor: The way that tree is practically fused with the roof – it's almost devouring the hut. Makes you wonder about the stories that little building could tell. Curator: And about the people who once called it home. It speaks volumes about the cycle of settlement, abandonment, and the enduring power of the natural world. Editor: It's a powerful image. Leaves you thinking about time, decay, and what really lasts.