Letter C c. 17th century

Editor: This woodcut print, "Letter C," by an anonymous artist, features a winged figure reaching towards the sky within the letterform. What resonates with me is the figure’s posture—almost pleading. How do you read this image? Curator: It's a potent image. Consider the context: illuminated letters like this often appeared at the start of important texts. That figure, caught between earthly structures and divine light, embodies a moment of transition. What cultural narratives might be at play here, linking power, knowledge, and even access to the divine? Editor: So, it’s not just decorative; it's also about hierarchies of knowledge and power? Curator: Precisely. And that tension between the earthly and divine raises questions about who has the right to access and interpret knowledge. I wonder, what does this mean for us today? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way. It's a call to critically examine systems of knowledge! Curator: Indeed, and to question whose voices are centered and whose are marginalized.