Initial S c. 15th century

Curator: Looking at this small, dense print titled "Initial S," it feels like stumbling upon a forgotten world. The anonymous artist really packed a lot in here. Editor: I agree, there's so much to take in at once! The way those two figures are wrestling with the letter, almost like they're forging it from raw material, is really intriguing. Curator: Right! The figures' labor to create the letter itself. And consider the material reality: the woodblock, the ink, the paper. This wasn’t just drawn, it was *made*. Editor: And what about the flora intertwined with the figures? The flowers could symbolize growth, new beginnings—the very start of something, as an initial implies. Curator: Perhaps, but I'm drawn to the repetitive, almost mass-produced nature of printmaking. How does that square with notions of individual "beginnings"? Editor: Well, even in repetition, symbols can evolve. Their meaning can shift depending on who's looking and in what context. It's still about communicating, even if the message is somewhat diluted. Curator: I suppose it's about the tension between the artisanal and the reproducible. Food for thought. Editor: Indeed. I find this piece really evocative, and those intertwined figures hint at powerful connections between labor and meaning.