Illustration LI c. 15th century

Curator: This is Illustration LI from the Harvard Art Museums, its creator remains unknown. Editor: It feels like a stage play, all these players so deliberately arranged, all in monochrome! Is that a boat? Curator: Indeed. It brings to mind questions of trade and religious exchange, a visual language rooted in its historical moment. Who is being transported? What are they trading? Editor: Maybe not actual trade. Maybe it is souls these figures are bartering, their destinies at stake in this graphic little drama? Curator: The stark black and white emphasizes the binary oppositions inherent in such exchanges: power, belief, and the negotiation of social structures. Editor: I see, in your terms, the roots of a negotiation for equity still echoing today. Curator: Precisely. It's a poignant reminder of how intertwined our past remains with our present struggles. Editor: Yes, and how a simple image can hold so much complex history.