The Request of the Mother of James and John c. 1529

Curator: This woodcut, held at the Harvard Art Museums, is titled "The Request of the Mother of James and John" and is by an anonymous artist. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by its stark, almost severe quality. The figures are stiff, yet there's a strange intimacy in the mother’s request. Curator: It depicts a biblical scene where the mother asks Jesus to grant her sons positions of power in his kingdom. The small scale and the use of woodcut suggest it was likely produced for wider circulation. Editor: The rigid social hierarchy is obvious here. It’s hard not to think about the power dynamics at play, even maternal ones, and who benefits from such a request. Curator: It reflects the social norms of the time, where requests to figures in power were common. Editor: Seeing it through our contemporary lens really exposes the inequalities, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed, and it shows us how deeply these power structures are embedded in our history. Editor: Food for thought about the legacies we still grapple with.