The Alarm Possibly 1864

Curator: This is “The Alarm,” an image created by Thomas Dalziel. The piece resides here at the Tate Collections. Editor: The texture from the hatching of the engraving gives it such an anxious feeling. Curator: It depicts an Indian couple peering out from a window overlooking a cityscape. The title suggests they may be looking at some danger approaching. Editor: I wonder, could the woman symbolize vigilance, standing upright and alert? The man's kneeling posture perhaps suggests vulnerability or subservience. Curator: Well, these Orientalist depictions often reduced complex cultures to simplified visual tropes and this image, I suspect, is no exception. Editor: Still, the visual language of alertness—eyes wide, leaning forward—speaks across time and culture, doesn’t it? Curator: Absolutely. The composition certainly generates a sense of anticipation, playing on the audience's assumptions of the East. Editor: It reminds us how powerful symbols can be in shaping our perceptions, intended or not.