X-radiograph(s) of "Male Portrait" 

Curator: What we're looking at is an X-radiograph of "Male Portrait" by Giovanni Cariani. It's a 14 x 17 film that reveals hidden layers beneath the surface. Editor: It looks like peering into a memory, fragmented and indistinct. A ghost of a portrait caught mid-fade. Curator: The X-ray unveils the underpainting and alterations made by Cariani. It's fascinating how this technique exposes the artist's process, his initial ideas, and subsequent revisions. It makes me think about the nature of iconography—how images accrue meaning and power through layers of intention and reinvention. Editor: Absolutely, and it raises questions about authenticity, doesn't it? Who decides what the 'true' image is, when the artist themselves seemed to be in dialogue with the canvas? Is this almost a critique of traditional portraiture? Curator: Perhaps. It certainly challenges our perception of a static, finished work of art. Editor: It's a powerful reminder that images are never fixed, always in flux. Food for thought, thank you!