"Romersk" prospekt 1730 - 1793

Editor: This is Jens Petersen Lund's "Romersk" prospekt, dating sometime between 1730 and 1793. It's a charcoal drawing and seems to capture a cityscape. There's a sort of melancholic, almost ghostly feel to it. What strikes you about this work? Curator: For me, it’s the artist's process and the raw materials that immediately grab attention. Consider the social context; a Danish artist depicting Rome using charcoal. How did this medium influence the representation of a "classical" landscape? Is it about making "high art" accessible through humble materials? Editor: That's a great point! I hadn’t considered the accessibility aspect. Do you think the use of charcoal reflects the available resources, or perhaps a deliberate choice to create a specific mood, like the ruins and the ordinary materials mirror each other? Curator: Precisely! The 'how' and 'why' of creation become crucial. Look closely; see how Lund uses the charcoal not to idealize, but almost to excavate, to reveal a sense of labor and impermanence. Is the focus really Rome, or Lund's engagement with its representation and the materiality that shapes that? Editor: So it’s less about the actual cityscape and more about Lund’s interaction with the materials at hand to recreate it. I suppose Neoclassicism typically invokes grand, polished imagery, but the charcoal introduces something altogether more personal and immediate here. Curator: Indeed. It challenges our understanding. Consumption, materiality and the artist’s mark itself. I leave thinking about how materials can carry and complicate ideas about place and representation.