Vase with handles in the shape of dragon-like monsters (fol. x v verso) 1499

Curator: This image depicts a vase with handles in the shape of dragon-like monsters. It's an anonymous work, found on folio x v verso, and resides within the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The dragon handles give the vase a grotesque feel, offsetting the elegant vase shape itself. It's unsettling. Curator: Vases were often integral to ritual and display, and these dragons, regardless of how we perceive them, served a function in the cultural context. Was it protection, status, or something else? Editor: The imagery could speak to power dynamics, the relationship between humans and the natural world. It would be intriguing to consider the socio-political statement it makes. Curator: It certainly gives us something to think about! Editor: I'm left with a sense of wonder about the beliefs that led to its creation.