Vedute di Roma 

Editor: Here we have Giovanni Battista Piranesi's "Vedute di Roma," an etching capturing a Roman cityscape. The juxtaposition of crumbling ruins and everyday life is quite striking. What do you see in this print? Curator: This etching really highlights the material realities of Rome in Piranesi’s time. Look at the process he’s chosen: etching. It's a repeatable method, aligning with printmaking's purpose for wider circulation and, frankly, economic gain. He's selling these images to tourists, yes, but also contributing to a visual market, shaping ideas about Roman identity. The labor involved in the production of these prints, from the initial drawing to the etching process itself, points to a very different, working-class engagement with antiquity than we might find in more traditional painting. Editor: That's a great point about etching as a repeatable medium and the intention to distribute on a large scale. But what does that suggest about how Piranesi is regarding his subject matter? Curator: He’s challenging established hierarchies. He isn’t presenting some idealized vision of Rome accessible only to the elite. Through the mass production and circulation of prints, he's making Rome accessible to a broader audience and, moreover, implying that it exists in the everyday through labor and commerce rather than as simply an aestheticized ideal. And it's through his handling of line, texture, the physical act of etching, that he creates these gritty scenes of an actual lived-in, worked-in Rome. Editor: So he's blurring the lines between fine art and something closer to a commercial product. Curator: Exactly. This print isn't just about showing the beauty of Rome, but it’s intrinsically tied to the making and distribution of the artwork, thereby revealing an interest in labour. Editor: I never considered the economic aspects before, very interesting. Curator: The materiality is what brings it alive!