Thermen van Diocletianus 1680

This print depicts the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian in Rome, made at an unknown date by an anonymous artist. The grandeur of the architecture contrasts with its state of decay. We can see the social life that continues amid the ruins. Figures stroll, converse, and even ride horses through the skeletal remains of this once great public space. This was a period when antiquities were both admired and plundered for building materials. The print thus speaks to a complex relationship with the past: awe, appropriation, and adaptation. It raises questions about how societies choose to remember, rebuild, and reimagine their heritage. As historians, we delve into archives, maps, and other visual sources to reconstruct the contexts that shaped the production and reception of such images. This helps us understand how the past is not a fixed entity, but something constantly re-evaluated in the present.