Students and Citizens Leaving the Gate of the City 1816

Curator: This is Julius Caesar Thäter’s “Students and Citizens Leaving the Gate of the City,” currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels like a quiet exodus, doesn’t it? All those figures sketched in delicate lines, flowing out as one. Curator: Indeed, you can feel the impact of historical themes prevalent at the time such as the importance of civic duty and academia's role. Editor: Right, but look closer! It is almost like the collective yearning for something new. The city is a concept in our minds as much as it is in the world. Curator: And the gate itself, it signifies the boundary between those spheres, public and private, old and new. This piece urges reflection on the artist's own moment in time. Editor: Well, I see a timeless metaphor: leaving behind what was and stepping into what might be.