The Past Is Present

Scholar Mary Beard explores the story of “Agrippina and Germanicus” by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. Who does the painting really depict? Is it a story about power or a tragic love affair?

How can we tell what’s fake and what’s real? What’s the difference between a forgery and a replica? Which was Giovanni da Cavino trying to make when he created his medals? Mary Beard explores the motives behind Cavino’s creations.

Celebrating the marriage of Leonello d’Este to Maria of Aragon, Pisanello playfully represents Cupid teaching Leonello, the little lion, to sing. This “currency of fame” circulated Leonello’s newfound political and social stature to the powerful Neapolitan court.

Artist Carrie Mae Weems and Carl J. Cruz, descendant of the first Black soldier to win the Medal of Honor, talk about how the story of The Massachusetts 54th Regiment connects to the struggles still going on today. The 54th was the first unit of Black soldiers to fight a major battle in the Civil War. Weems used a photograph of the memorial to the 54th in a series about the Black Americans who left the South in search of greater freedom.