X-radiograph(s) of "Countess of Spencer" 

Curator: Well, hello there! Up next we have this eerie yet intriguing x-radiograph of Sir Joshua Reynolds' "Countess of Spencer," located right here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It looks like a ghost trapped in canvas! All the layers of paint and time, exposed. I’m instantly struck by the raw materiality of it. Curator: Absolutely. It’s like seeing through the layers of intention, of the artist's hand, and even the sitter's carefully constructed persona. It’s as if we are witnessing the very bones of the painting! Editor: And thinking about those materials... the lead in the paint, necessary for its opacity, now revealing the painting's inner structure through this technology. It speaks to the labor, the processes, the physicality of artmaking itself. Curator: It gives you a sense of time, doesn't it? Like each layer of paint, each x-ray, is whispering stories from the past. Editor: Definitely makes you think about the science behind art, and all the physical processes that are usually invisible to the viewer. Curator: Precisely! Who knew science could reveal such a ghostly beauty? Editor: Or that a portrait could become an archeological site!