Illustration XXX c. 16th century

Curator: This woodcut, Illustration XXX, is held within the Harvard Art Museums and was created by an anonymous artist. Editor: It feels otherworldly, yet grounded in a very specific, perhaps medieval, sense of labor and power. The stark lines certainly evoke that feeling. Curator: Exactly. Look at the figure labeled "Mercurius." His stance, coupled with the winged figure above, implies a celestial authority imposed upon the earthly realm of commerce and toil depicted below. Editor: The lines themselves denote the labor involved in production; each cut a testament to the hand that guided the tool. It makes me think of the social conditions and the physical effort embedded in creating such an image. Curator: And how that image might have been circulated and understood in its time. Who was Mercurius to them? What hierarchies did this imagery reinforce or subvert? Editor: Ultimately, it's fascinating to consider the intersection of labor, commerce, and mythology through the very materiality of this print. Curator: Indeed, it offers a compelling glimpse into the values and belief systems of a bygone era.