The Devil of Pride on Apollonius's Back; Emissaries of the Emperor ordering Apollonius to Become a Knight c. 15th century

Curator: Here we have an intriguing woodcut, undated but held in the Harvard Art Museums, titled "The Devil of Pride on Apollonius's Back; Emissaries of the Emperor Ordering Apollonius to Become a Knight." Editor: It feels incredibly dense and otherworldly. The figures are somewhat blocky, and the colors are applied in a really flat way. Like it's trying to tell me something, but I'm not quite sure what. Curator: It's part of a series illustrating the life of Apollonius of Tyre, a popular medieval romance. These scenes depict moments of spiritual and political conflict in his journey. Editor: So, we see him wrestling with inner demons, symbolized by the devil on his back, and simultaneously being pressured by worldly powers to join the knighthood. It's like the artist is showing the tug-of-war between spiritual and earthly desires. The lack of perspective kind of adds to the sense of being trapped, don't you think? Curator: Precisely. The woodcut’s medium, with its bold lines and limited color palette, amplifies that sense of struggle and the moral clarity sought in these stories. Think about the socio-political context of that era. Editor: Right, it all comes together – the moral dilemmas, the visual language, the historical moment – to make a little world that still speaks to us, though maybe in a whisper now. Curator: Absolutely. It's a testament to how art, even in its simplest forms, can capture the complexity of the human condition.