Fontein van Arethusa, Syracuse 1860 - 1889

Roberto Rive captured the ‘Fontein van Arethusa, Syracuse’ with a camera sometime in the mid-19th century. His work exists within the emergence of photography as both a documentary tool and an artistic medium, against a backdrop of European fascination with classical antiquity and the Mediterranean landscape. This photograph depicts the Fountain of Arethusa, a natural spring steeped in Greek mythology. The spring is named after a nymph who was transformed into a fountain by Artemis to escape the advances of the river god Alpheus. Rive’s lens frames the site with a romantic gaze, emphasizing its mythical aura through the soft focus and shadowy depths. Consider how the water’s reflective surface obscures as much as it reveals. This evokes the hidden narratives of women whose stories, like Arethusa’s, often intertwine with themes of transformation, escape, and the complex relationship between agency and objectification. The photograph invites us to reflect on the layers of history and mythology, and the silenced voices that reside within them.