Ruïnes na een brand tussen de Pasbrug en Sint-Jorisbrug in Gent 1789

Editor: This is Jacques André Joseph Trachez's "Ruins after a Fire Between the Pasbrug and Sint-Jorisbrug in Ghent," an engraving from 1789. It’s quite bleak, almost unsettling. All that's left are husks. What visual stories do you see unfolding in this scene? Curator: It speaks volumes, doesn't it? Consider how Trachez uses light and shadow. See how it doesn't just depict a physical fire, but a fire within the social fabric. The standing figures almost resemble ghosts haunting this space, clad in funerary hues and robes, standing amid the remains of societal structures. Editor: Ghostly indeed, now that you mention it. Their figures lack a clear presence on the stone pavers; I feel almost as if I’m peering into a memory. The towers in the distance almost seem untouched. Curator: Note the careful placement of the surviving structures. The towers – symbols of resilience, perhaps the enduring spirit of the city. Ask yourself, what did those buildings and architectural motifs mean to people in 1789, versus today? There’s loss, certainly, but is there also a visual echo of hope or perhaps resilience? Editor: I think there is, definitely. Especially knowing this was made on the precipice of so much societal transformation in Europe; these architectural survivors serve almost as reminders of collective continuity. I initially only focused on the damage itself, I missed all the symbolic cues. Curator: That’s the enduring power of images, isn’t it? They hold within them layers of meaning, connecting us across time and experience through symbolic resonance.