Tempel van Saturnus op het Forum Romanum 1861 - 1878

Editor: This albumen print, "Tempel van Saturnus op het Forum Romanum," captured sometime between 1861 and 1878 by Ernest Eléonor Pierre Lamy, presents a solemn and somewhat melancholic view of ancient Rome. The ruins, rendered in sepia tones, evoke a sense of grandeur, now faded. What strikes you most when you look at this image? Curator: What a poignant ruin, isn’t it? Almost dreamlike, faded but holding tight to its place in memory, in history... I see a ghost of an empire, really. Lamy’s choice to use photography, relatively new at the time, is quite interesting. Why paint a romanticized version when you can capture a *truthful* image, albeit mediated by the lens? Notice the figure standing amidst the rubble; a human scale accentuating the temple's monumental presence and a sense of quiet contemplation... What might he be thinking, standing amidst such enduring, crumbling history? Editor: He does look rather contemplative! I hadn't considered the impact of photography itself being a relatively new medium. Was this a common subject for artists back then? Curator: Ruins were all the rage! A potent symbol of the passage of time, a meditation on mortality, and a kind of romantic fascination with lost empires. Think about the cultural context: the 19th century was obsessed with archaeology, with rediscovering and understanding the classical world. Lamy's print feeds right into that. What does the act of *documenting* these ruins say about us? Editor: That’s fascinating. It makes me wonder about preservation versus our morbid fascination with the fall of great civilizations. Curator: Precisely! It is about both - about history and what survives it - about power, resilience, fragility. Editor: I’ll definitely think differently about these kinds of images from now on! Curator: Excellent! Ruins prompt the best kinds of thoughts.