She Is Dead. c. 19th century

Curator: This is "She Is Dead." by Paul Gavarni, held here at the Harvard Art Museums. The overwhelming feeling I get is one of profound stillness. Like holding your breath at twilight. Editor: That tomb dominating the foreground—it's marble, I'd wager—seems almost aggressively solid against the delicately sketched cityscape behind it. The contrast is stark. Curator: The etching is so precise, isn't it? You can almost feel the coolness of the stone and the damp earth. And yet, look at the title. Editor: It's brutal. But that text and Gavarni's use of lithography probably made it more widely available. Grief rendered reproducible. Curator: A democratization of mourning, perhaps? Editor: Maybe. I see a commentary on class, even in death. Curator: Well, regardless, there's a whisper of beauty even in this sorrowful piece. Editor: I can see that, a testament to the material endurance of loss.