X-radiograph(s) of "Virgin, Child and Saints" 

Curator: We're looking at an x-radiograph of "Virgin, Child and Saints", attributed to the School of Titian, located at the Harvard Art Museums. The photograph was taken in 1938. Editor: It's like peering into the ghost of a painting! All those layers, secrets…makes you wonder about the original artist’s process. Curator: Indeed. The density variations reveal the composition's underlayers, pentimenti, and the materials used. We can analyze the structure and the choices made during its creation. Editor: For me, it evokes a sense of time, of history being built, scraped away, and rebuilt. A palimpsest of devotion and artistic struggle, all revealed in this eerie light. Curator: The formal elements—the lines, the forms—speak to a traditional composition, echoing the Renaissance masters and the evolution of their craft. Editor: It’s a reminder that even masterpieces carry their own hidden stories, visible only through this strange, illuminating process. Curator: Precisely. It enables a study that transcends the surface image. Editor: And whispers to our imagination. I love that.