Temple Gateway at Medinet Habu, Thebes (present-day Luxor) 19th-20th century

Curator: Joseph Smith invites us to step through the "Temple Gateway at Medinet Habu, Thebes," in this canvas at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels wonderfully…sturdy, yet faded. The gateway dominates, but that peek of hazy landscape beyond softens the whole thing. Curator: I think the composition directs our gaze so deliberately; the pillars act as visual anchors framing the vista. How do you feel about the materiality here? Editor: The paint has a dry, almost sun-baked quality. It's a study in ochre, really, with little flecks of turquoise and umber adding depth. Curator: Smith captures a sense of timelessness, the weight of history literally etched into the stone. I can almost feel the scorching heat and see echoes of the past. Editor: It's almost like a stage, isn't it? A threshold between worlds. Gazing at this image, I feel like I'm standing on the precipice of somewhere ancient and profound. Curator: Precisely! It is as though Joseph Smith wanted to show us not just a building, but also its haunting atmosphere.