Interior of a chapel, with the ceremony of a nun taking the veil c. 19th century

Curator: This is A. M. Huffam's "Interior of a chapel, with the ceremony of a nun taking the veil," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. The print captures a moment of great solemnity. Editor: It strikes me as quite claustrophobic, even oppressive. All those figures shrouded, the stark, unwavering lines of the architecture... Curator: Notice how Huffam uses the printmaking process to emphasize the architectural elements—the arches, the way the light falls. It speaks volumes about the social construction of sacred space. The labor involved in creating such controlled imagery is also worth noting. Editor: Agreed, and I see it as a powerful depiction of institutional control over women's bodies and destinies. The ritual feels less like a spiritual calling and more like a formal submission. Curator: A submission that required considerable resources to produce and disseminate, remember. Editor: Well, that's given me a lot to think about regarding the dynamics of power at play here. Curator: And for me, it highlights the material conditions through which these dynamics were, and are, made visible.