Two Studies of "Night's" Leg, after Michelangelo; verso: Banner c. 19th century

Editor: This is Edward Burne-Jones' "Two Studies of 'Night's' Leg, after Michelangelo," made with red chalk. It's interesting how Burne-Jones isolates and studies the leg. What can we understand by focusing on this fragment? Curator: The fragment speaks volumes! Burne-Jones, as a Pre-Raphaelite, was deeply engaged with revisiting and reinterpreting the masters. But it wasn't mere copying. By focusing on this particular leg from Michelangelo's "Night," he's extracting a symbol of power, of the idealized male form, and perhaps, challenging conventional notions of beauty and masculinity in his own Victorian context. Editor: Challenging? How so? Curator: Consider the gaze. By isolating this powerful, classical leg, Burne-Jones invites us to scrutinize the male form, disrupting the traditional male gaze which often objectifies women. It becomes a study of power dynamics, of how we perceive strength and beauty. Editor: That's a fascinating point. I hadn't considered the subversive aspect of focusing on this detail. Curator: Exactly. It's a dialogue across centuries, a conversation about power, beauty, and representation. Burne-Jones uses Michelangelo's vocabulary to ask new questions about gender and identity.