Avignon c. 19th century

Curator: This is James C. Allen's print, "Avignon, Legate's Palace & the Dauphine Alps," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. What strikes you? Editor: There's a serene vastness to it. The light, almost dreamlike, with a somber, reflective quality, like a fading memory. Curator: That emotional quality may stem from Avignon’s history as the seat of the Papacy in the 14th century, laden with symbolic weight as a city of spiritual and political power. Editor: You can feel it. Even in the smallest details, those figures near the shore... it's almost an elegy, isn't it? Curator: Indeed. This portrayal reminds us of the ways in which landscapes become imbued with cultural narratives over time. Editor: I'm glad we could revisit it. Curator: Me too. It is a landscape that continues to speak across time.