Lot and His Daughters 1582 - 1586

Editor: This is Adriaen Collaert's "Lot and His Daughters," a small print in the Harvard Art Museums. The scene is dramatic, filled with these tiny figures against this burning city. What do you make of this, especially given how loaded the subject is? Curator: The burning city immediately evokes divine judgment, doesn't it? But the frame is so interesting here. It feels like a bestiary and a garden, almost shielding us from the main scene. Editor: So the frame softens the blow, maybe? Curator: Precisely! The image suggests layers of meaning, where innocence and destruction coexist, echoing the psychological conflict of the narrative itself. It asks, what are we protecting ourselves from? Editor: I never thought of the frame in that way before. Curator: Symbols are rarely straightforward, and Collaert seems to acknowledge that complexity.