Saturn 

Editor: This engraving, titled *Saturn* by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, depicts the mythological figure, well, Saturn! There’s a brooding, almost melancholic quality to his pose. All those very delicate lines – the clouds are so airy! What do you make of his… mood, Curator? Curator: Mood is the word, indeed! He seems utterly burdened, doesn't he? I see in him the weight of history, the melancholy of time devouring its own children. His posture suggests resignation rather than the violence associated with the myth. Doesn't the spare use of line almost amplify that weariness, giving it a ghost-like presence? And notice how the birds around him in the ornamented corners frame his isolation even further… Aren't they are harbingers of some past long lost? What is Saturn holding there? Editor: I think that is meant to be his scythe. The doves and detailed line work feel contradictory with Saturn’s sad demeanor. Perhaps, they symbolize aspects beyond his grasp. The ornamental framework… it's almost neoclassical. Curator: Yes! It hints at the dawn of a new era, juxtaposed with the weight of an ancient god. Imagine Piranesi wrestling with the transition. I wonder what future is indicated here. Do you suppose these embellishments help contain a deeper dread about what lies beyond what we can see and name? Editor: I hadn’t considered it in the light of cultural change, but I now see it as something very new, even urgent! Thanks. Curator: The pleasure is mine! Art is the history of feeling, as they say. Thank you for joining me on this particular reverie through feeling's old text.