St. John the Baptist Preaching, from Das Plenarium 1517

Curator: Wow, there’s such a peculiar charm in the raw linework and the earthy colors. Editor: It does have a grounding presence. You are observing "St. John the Baptist Preaching, from Das Plenarium", a woodcut, created around 1517, by Hans Schäufelein. Currently it is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: Ah, Schäufelein! What's fascinating to me is how he's captured the moment when John is basically shaking things up, probably ruffling feathers among the established clergy, the local glitterati, using the symbols they might associate with the established order in a renegade manner. Editor: Indeed. In art from the northern Renaissance, this kind of imagery often signified social disruption, calling for a return to more sincere values. Note how St. John almost seems to be giving alms, like he is redistributing sacred symbolic wealth to common people. Curator: Precisely! His very stance is an assertion, wouldn't you agree? The halo feels… almost playfully skewed, which I find curious; he seems to subvert, gently, not abrasively, or does he? Editor: The off-kilter halo certainly introduces a touch of humanism, but haloes, in their own sense, transcend epochs. Every faith and none borrow it—authority, enlightenment, it even looks like halos follow rockstars. I am rather fixated on the reactions he elicits; that woman’s averted gaze—so guarded and circumspect. It is a potent mix. Curator: Yes, there's an intimate, nearly domestic scale to what's happening in that scene: you feel the hum of shared experience. One wonders, though, about how far they’re taking St. John’s teachings outside this secluded forest glen and the implications they pose, and whether they comprehend that or they’re simply following St. John as another flavor-of-the-month demagogue. Editor: Maybe there's some comfort to be found in the woodcut's imperfections, actually! A mirror into humanity as it attempts transcendence. We struggle toward ideals, falling short again, attempting once more. And so it goes, this holy spiral. Curator: You’ve woven such a thread. Yes, this work holds much more than meets the surface viewing. I shall keep an eye peeled when in New York.