Letter E c. 16th century

Editor: This is Anton Woensam von Worms' woodcut, "Letter E." It's filled with these rather unsettling figures. I'm curious, what does this image evoke for you? Curator: Well, it's a fascinating intersection of the aesthetic and the social. Consider the role of children in early 16th-century society. Often seen as miniature adults, their images were used to reinforce societal norms, perhaps even anxieties. Editor: Anxieties? Curator: Precisely. The weight of expectation, the burden of inheritance, literally carried on their backs. The letter, then, becomes a symbolic framework, a structure defining their existence. The other child, standing behind the bars – perhaps a metaphor for the limitations placed on them? It makes one wonder about the agency afforded to children then, and even now. Editor: That's a powerful reading. I'll certainly see this work differently now. Curator: It is important to think critically about the historical positionality of Woensam and how that relates to our contemporary values.