Pan and Syrinx 18th-19th century

Curator: Francesco Morelli's engraving, "Pan and Syrinx," now at the Harvard Art Museums, freezes a moment of pursuit in a landscape heavy with implications. What is your first response? Editor: A chase scene shrouded in twilight. The figures almost blend with the trees, creating this sense of urgency, desperation even. Curator: Indeed. The landscape isn't merely a backdrop, it signifies transformation. Look at how the engraver uses line and tone to create texture. Editor: The crosshatching technique almost feels like visual noise, mirroring the chaos of the myth itself. Syrinx turning into reeds, Pan forever reaching… Curator: This speaks to the artistic process. This work translates a Greek myth through skilled labor, turning a narrative into a physical artifact. Editor: It's more than just labor though, isn't it? It's about that perpetual desire, the ungraspable. Makes you wonder what we're all chasing, eternally. Curator: Perhaps we are all engaging in a process, a continuous act of becoming. Editor: A chase, yes, but also a dance. A sad, beautiful dance.