The Roman antiquities, t. 3, Plate VI. View the remains above ground of the ancient Ustrine and relevant to the same factories. 

Curator: This etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi depicts the remains of the ancient Ustrinum, a public cremation place in ancient Rome, focusing on its ruins above ground and associated structures. Editor: It’s an evocative scene. The heavy blacks and sharp lines create such a dramatic mood—almost melancholic. You immediately feel a sense of loss and the relentless passage of time. Curator: Absolutely. Piranesi’s series of Roman antiquities aimed to reconstruct the past, but through ruins. His work reflects 18th-century Europe’s fascination with classical antiquity and Rome’s symbolic capital, a legacy that powerful Europeans tried to tap into. Piranesi highlighted Rome as a grand civilization. Editor: Though these works were undoubtedly impressive to European royalty during their “Grand Tour”, I think we have to ask if their image of a strong empire building stone on stone truly speaks of this time in a way that relates to what it has cost to indigenous communities both then and now. Piranesi’s precise depiction creates an illusion of stability and enduring power, obscuring what these sites represent regarding violent subjugation and erasure. The detail of this kind of architecture always excludes people from marginalized groups and is used for othering, but also often contains their exploitation. Curator: It’s true that these ruins weren't innocent remains. They bore witness to imperial expansion and the construction of a social order deeply invested in domination. Piranesi omits those elements; his focus is on the aesthetics of decay. We could further view these engravings within the historical context of their circulation and their potential implications as architectural models for future powerful and controlling buildings. Editor: He elevates these ruins into a symbol of Roman glory, abstracting them away from any messy, inconvenient truths about their violent creation. These landscapes invite viewers to marvel at Rome’s power, a power rooted in injustice and structural inequalities. It's so easy to aestheticize things that caused violence in other people. Curator: A crucial point to consider. By understanding how Piranesi framed these remnants of the past, we are able to see more critically how imagery functions within socio-political projects. Editor: These Roman stones whisper the story of civilizations and those who don’t get remembered, reminding us to question narratives and reimagine possibilities that reflect our ideals and those whose lives have been lost in building empires.