Dish with landscape and architectural ruins 1695 - 1710

This tin-glazed earthenware dish, painted by Siro Antonio Africa, was made in Italy in the late 17th or early 18th century. During this period, artists often looked back to classical antiquity for inspiration. Here, we see ruins and a statue of a nude male figure in an idealized landscape. The architectural elements evoke a sense of grandeur, while the figures in the scene, rendered at a much smaller scale, seem to wander through this landscape, perhaps contemplating the passage of time and the legacy of the past. Note how the classicizing, European aesthetic doesn't account for race or the realities of lived experience for the majority of people. Instead, we're presented with a romanticized vision of the past, one which emphasizes beauty and harmony while largely ignoring the social and political issues of the time it was made. This piece asks us to consider whose stories are told through art, and whose are left out.