East Door of Baptistery of Florence c. 19th century

Curator: This is Giovanni Paolo Lasinio's rendering of the East Door of the Baptistery of Florence, seemingly capturing Moses receiving the law on Mount Sinai. It's all lines and light, isn't it? Editor: It feels unfinished somehow, like a ghostly echo of a grand narrative. But I can also see it as a commentary on power and authority. Look at the crowd below, their forced subservience. Curator: Yes, the line work does make it a bit detached, doesn't it? More about the idea of law than the feeling of faith, maybe. Editor: And whose law are we really talking about? This image is definitely complicit with the ways religious narratives have been historically deployed to maintain the status quo. Curator: I suppose that the artist, rather than the commissioner, ultimately dictates the final meaning of the artwork. Even when constrained to a specific subject, the hand still holds the pen, right? Editor: True, the artist's intention still filters through, even if the work is still ultimately constrained and conditioned by power structures. Curator: Well, it has given me a lot to consider about faith, power, and art. Editor: It definitely offers a lens through which we can see how images perpetuate ideology.