X-radiograph(s) of "Portrait of Reverend Seth Storer" 7-Jul-04

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of the Portrait of Reverend Seth Storer. The original portrait was painted by Robert Feke, though we don't have a date for it. Editor: Haunting. It’s like looking through layers of time, the weave of the canvas so prominent, almost like a shroud. Curator: Absolutely. The x-ray reveals the unseen structure, the underpainting, the bones, if you will, of representation itself. It's about power, isn't it? The power of the church, the patriarchal structures… Editor: But it's also about the labor. You can see the texture, the very physical act of painting, the artist’s hand, not just the sitter’s status. Curator: True, it's a ghostly impression of the process, but it’s also the revelation of what colonial portraiture aimed to conceal: the unstable foundations of identity. Editor: And to think, this process helps ensure the work's preservation, but it's also strangely revealing. Curator: It’s a potent reminder that images, like power, are never as solid as they seem. Editor: I'm struck by how this process both confirms and undermines the artist's original intent.