Book XXVI.11. Temple in Grove at Feronia despoiled {Tertiae Decadis Liber Sextus p. CXLIII verso} 1493

Curator: This is an anonymous piece entitled "Book XXVI.11. Temple in Grove at Feronia despoiled," housed at the Harvard Art Museums. What's your immediate take? Editor: Stark. Utterly desolate. The rigidity of the lines, the lifeless body...it's a scene stripped bare, almost brutally so. Curator: Indeed. Look at the print quality. The thickness of the lines suggests a woodcut, likely mass-produced. The temple, stripped of its valuables, represents a societal collapse, perhaps? Editor: Absolutely. The means of production speaks to accessibility; disseminating this image widely would amplify its warning about unchecked power and vulnerability. And the figures, rendered so crudely— Curator: Almost disposable, reflecting perhaps a commentary on the dispossession of the temple’s sacred space. Editor: Exactly. It’s a potent image when you consider its materiality: cheap, reproducible, and designed for broad consumption. This wasn't some precious commission. Curator: More a stark warning than a celebration, wouldn't you say? Editor: Precisely. Now that’s material for thought, isn’t it?