X-radiograph(s) of "Self-Portrait (copy)" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of a copy of Peter Paul Rubens' Self-Portrait, currently residing in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Stark! Almost ghostly. The canvas weave and the lead-based paint create this strange, ethereal impression of a face emerging from the fabric itself. Curator: It's fascinating how the X-ray reveals what lies beneath the visible surface, stripping away the color to expose the underlying structure, the artist’s process. The painting almost becomes a relic, a sacred object. Editor: Yes, and it makes you consider the labor involved. The preparation of the canvas, the grinding of pigments... all those hands involved in creating this one image we attribute to Rubens. Curator: This radiography gives a new layer of depth to our understanding, both of the painting and of ourselves. It's a memory, echoed and transformed. Editor: Indeed. It’s almost like holding the skeleton of the painting, revealing its hidden materiality.