"My son," she said, kissing his eyes . . . 1809

Curator: The piece before us is an engraving by Remi Henri Joseph Delvaux, titled "My son," she said, kissing his eyes . . .". It's held in the Harvard Art Museums. The plate is quite small, roughly 14 by 10 centimeters. Editor: It has a certain baroque feel to it, all rich drapery and classical figures—very reminiscent of an old master painting. Curator: It's an interesting take on power dynamics, considering its likely function as a print. The image itself is overlaid with text about the power a mortal girl holds over the mother and son depicted. How might print culture democratize and challenge aristocratic values? Editor: I suppose the act of reproducing it, of making it accessible on paper, inherently shifts the power balance away from the singular authority it depicts. A mass-produced object weakens the aura. Curator: Precisely. It's a fascinating interplay between the elite subject matter and the more accessible medium of printmaking. Editor: This really makes one think about how images move and how their meaning shifts with the means of production.