View of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Seen from the East c. 1636 - 1640

Editor: This is Jan Asselijn’s “View of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Seen from the East,” created around 1636 to 1640, using ink and pencil. It feels almost like a ghost of Rome, a faded memory. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a powerful visual statement about the layered nature of history and power. Asselijn, a Dutch artist working in Italy, captures not just the Capitoline Hill but the very essence of Rome as a palimpsest. The classical ruins, juxtaposed against the contemporary architecture, hint at the ways dominant cultures build upon and often erase previous ones. Editor: So the placement of old and new speaks to a cycle of power? Curator: Exactly. And it raises questions: Whose history is being told, and whose is being omitted? Consider the cow in the foreground – an almost pastoral, genre-like addition – does it inadvertently naturalize the inequality of land usage, of access to resources, and the displacement that came with urban development? How does it contribute to a vision of progress and whose progress is being depicted? Editor: I hadn't considered the cow's placement like that before. It seems peaceful but has the potential to make a bigger political statement about resources? Curator: Precisely. Even seemingly benign details like that force us to consider whose narratives are centered and normalized, especially considering that artistic patronage at the time, in places such as Rome, served as validation for Papal or other imperial powers. Editor: This is very different from the typical art history I’ve learned, thank you. It’s shown me how to bring fresh considerations to classic works. Curator: Indeed. It shows that there's so much more beneath the surface that opens up when you interrogate the artwork through many lenses!