Tempio di Giove Olimpico in Villa Adriana 1795

Curator: Here we have Albert Christoph Dies’s "Tempio di Giove Olimpico in Villa Adriana," created around 1795. This print, a symphony in ink and etching, transports us to the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa. Editor: It’s melancholic, isn't it? The delicate lines hint at grandeur, yet everything's draped in this lovely, somber ruin. Nature reclaims what emperors built, it makes you wonder about time itself! Curator: Precisely! It reflects a rising Neoclassical interest in Rome, and ancient history. This print presents the ruin not as a site of decay, but as a monument, ennobled by history and artistic representation. Dies, working at a time when these images were reaching a broader public through prints, helps shape how Rome, and its past were perceived. Editor: So, a controlled ruin then! Those arches though, the way the light filters, almost feels romantic despite its classical roots. And you're right; the layering of trees around the site emphasizes a passage through history. This isn’t a straightforward record. There's artistry at work with ink and imagination. Curator: I think the framing here is important: The Temple is surrounded by these imposing trees, almost like framing an important relic within a new world order, suggesting the dialogue between different historical moments. The Villa Adriana was already then being understood as the seat of power in the antiquity. By documenting it, artists, like Dies, affirmed that power. Editor: Hah, 'new world order'! Still, there's a weirdly intimate quality. It is both grand and intensely personal. This dance between memory, landscape, and imagination gives it its life. It's hard to believe it’s "just" a rendering of stone. It seems almost… haunted. Curator: I concur. The choice of print medium, the etched line, brings immediacy and invites an accessible experience of Roman glory. By employing ink and print, Dies captures the Villa's historical weight but distributes this image of importance to a large population. Editor: Makes you want to wander there now, find that same shadowed glade! Though maybe without the ghosts. This work made something really sink in; old stones tell long stories. Thanks for unpacking that. Curator: A pleasure! It’s vital we recognize how deeply enmeshed our images of the past are in the artistic choices that constructed them.