Lucrezia Borgia 1871

Editor: This is Rossetti’s *Lucrezia Borgia*, currently at the Harvard Art Museums. It's undated, but looking at the painting, especially the detail of her dress and the scene in the background, I find it mysterious. What’s your take on it? Curator: Rossetti often used historical or literary figures to explore contemporary social anxieties. Here, he presents Lucrezia not as a monster, but as a woman caught in a web of power, perhaps a comment on the limited roles available to women, then and now. What evidence do you see in the painting that supports a reading about social anxieties? Editor: I see a tension between the domestic setting and the lurking figures in the background. It's as if she's trapped between worlds. I hadn’t considered Rossetti's painting as social commentary, but that really adds a new layer of meaning to it. Curator: Precisely. And remember, the Pre-Raphaelites were consciously challenging academic art, seeking to engage with the viewer directly on a more emotional, and even political, level. It is all about the role of images in social and political discourse.