X-radiograph(s) of "Allegory of Vice and Vertue (copy)" 

Curator: Well, this is an X-radiograph of a copy of Paolo Veronese’s “Allegory of Vice and Virtue,” housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. The image itself presents a peculiar, ghostly perspective. Editor: I'll say. It feels like peering into a dream, or maybe even a nightmare. The figures are stark, almost skeletal in their stark contrast, their expressions suspended in this ethereal, almost unsettling, space. Curator: That contrast likely comes from the X-ray exposing the different densities of the paint layers. An allegory like this, even in copy, is always about choices. The light and shadow here seem to amplify the internal battle. Editor: Definitely. I'm also struck by how these faces, stripped down by the X-ray, become almost universal symbols—the struggle between desire and duty, laid bare. It is almost a memento mori. Curator: Indeed. It’s intriguing how a scientific process can reveal such potent emotional layers within a work of art, even in its copy. Editor: Seeing art through a different lens – literally – always throws up new questions. It is interesting that the X-ray also exposes the art of the underpainting.