Fridolin c. 19th century

Curator: This line drawing, titled "Fridolin," is by Jean-Baptiste Muret and is part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. It feels very delicate. Editor: It does, almost skeletal. I'm intrigued by the starkness of the lines and the way the architecture looms over the figures. What do you read into it, symbolically? Curator: Well, the scene depicts Fridolin departing, seemingly on a quest of some kind. The figures almost feel like cutouts, reinforcing the sense of a story unfolding. Editor: I'm struck by the material limitations. The artist is using the simplest of means—line and paper—to construct this entire world. Curator: I find myself contemplating the figures' roles in the narrative, and what their gestures might signify. Editor: And I'm thinking about Muret, and what kind of labor, what kind of care went into this drawing. Curator: It gives the scene another layer. A visual trace of past actions. Editor: Exactly. It’s lovely to contemplate how material and symbol work together here.