Roman Ruins c. 17th century

Curator: Jan Gerritsz van Bronchorst’s print, "Roman Ruins," presents us with an imagined scene of antiquity’s decay. I see it and think, what survives? Editor: The etching’s mood is so somber, isn't it? The ruined columns and overgrown foliage convey a sense of melancholy, of time marching relentlessly onward, despite human endeavors. Curator: I’m drawn to that tension—Bronchorst positions the remnants of power against nature’s quiet reclamation. There’s a political dimension in witnessing the crumbling of empires. The print asks, what does it mean for the powerful to be undone? Editor: Absolutely. And I also think of the printmaking technique itself, etching, as a kind of slow violence done to the copperplate. The artist allows acid to corrode the surface. And there’s an allegory there. Curator: True! It's a meditation on change, destruction, and rebirth, all captured in ink. What remains and what disappears is a constant negotiation. Editor: It does leave you pondering the cyclical nature of power and the quiet persistence of nature, doesn’t it? A poignant image to contemplate.