Röntgenfoto van een hand met gebroken middenhandsbeentje before 1898

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, predating 1898, presents what's known as "Röntgenfoto van een hand met gebroken middenhandsbeentje" or an X-ray photograph of a hand with a fractured metacarpal. It is attributed to Dr. Késer. Editor: There’s a raw, visceral quality to it. The ghostly bones against the dark backdrop... It’s unsettling, a memento mori captured by new technology. Curator: Absolutely. X-rays were revolutionary. They pierced the veil of the body, revealing the hidden structures beneath. The photograph captures not just a broken bone, but a moment of scientific and cultural shift. In an age obsessed with spiritualism and hidden truths, here was scientific proof of a new hidden reality. Editor: How did the public receive such images? The X-ray as a symbol – it must have triggered strong reactions, fear alongside fascination? Did it disrupt ideas about bodily integrity or empower medical advancements? Curator: Likely a mix. On one hand, there would be fear of the invisible, the potential for unseen dangers and a violation of privacy; the skin has always been the boundary. But as the 20th century advanced and medical science took on the role once held by spiritual oracles, I suspect there would also be tremendous awe and the promise of healing. This new knowledge would reshape conceptions of our corporeal selves. The X-ray, like so many medical photos from this time, took on symbolic weight beyond their pragmatic purposes. Editor: It's a powerful collision of art and science. Seeing this now, you still feel a residue of that early wonder, a sense of the uncanny revealed. A kind of visual artifact speaking to multiple transformations. Curator: Indeed, it prompts us to reflect on the visual tropes, and power imbued in seeing the human form represented in its fullness or fragment, then as well as now. The print bears traces of technological promise, medical knowledge, and artistic fascination—resonances across over a century of use and viewing.