Study for "Prometheus," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1916 - 1921

Editor: This is John Singer Sargent's study for "Prometheus," and it feels almost claustrophobic, doesn't it? All that agony crammed into a circle. What do you make of it? Curator: Sargent's Prometheus feels like a raw nerve exposed, a visceral scream painted in muted tones. I find myself pondering the cyclical nature of suffering and defiance. What does it say about humanity’s eternal struggle against the gods, or against fate itself? Editor: So it's more than just torture; it's about... resistance? Curator: Precisely! And perhaps the futility of it all? But there's a strange beauty in that futility, a tragic grandeur. Editor: I hadn't considered the grandeur of futility before! This gives me so much more to think about.