Gobelinzaal in kasteel Gunterstein te Breukelen 1899

Anthonie Marinus van Melle captured the Gobelin Room in Gunterstein Castle in Breukelen with a photograph. Van Melle, living through both World Wars, would have understood the precarity of the aristocratic lifestyle depicted here. The Gobelin Room, with its expensive tapestries and elaborate furnishings, speaks to a history of wealth and power. The photo provides a glimpse into the domestic lives of the elite, and the artwork serves as a record of their existence. How do we reconcile the beauty of this space with the social and economic disparities it represents? Does this image celebrate or critique the lifestyle it portrays? Consider the ways spaces like this are preserved and presented today. Who gets to decide what stories are told, and whose histories are remembered? It's a reminder that every image—every carefully curated space—reflects choices about what we value and what we choose to forget.