Saint Peter's Seen from the Janiculum Hill, Rome c. 1935

Curator: Here we have M.C. Escher's pencil drawing, "Saint Peter's Seen from the Janiculum Hill, Rome," created around 1935. Escher, of course, is celebrated for his mathematically inspired woodcuts and lithographs. This earlier piece offers a glimpse into the development of his vision. Editor: It's captivating in its understatement. A delicate sketch of an iconic subject. There is almost a dream-like, transient quality—a landscape caught between waking and sleeping. It strikes me as quite contemplative. Curator: Absolutely, and considering the socio-political context of 1930s Europe, the serenity becomes particularly resonant. This was a period of escalating tension, the rise of Fascism and Nazism…Escher, living in Italy at the time, eventually left because of his aversion to Mussolini's regime. Could this drawing be a search for peace, a deliberate focus on enduring beauty amidst gathering storms? Editor: Interesting idea, but is the quest for "enduring beauty" not an element of all classic Italian imagery? Escher chooses, whether deliberately or otherwise, certain familiar symbols of historical continuity here: the Dome, the tower, the framing foliage, and even the unadorned horizon—all are icons loaded with the historical weight of Rome, a Rome whose mythmaking is foundational to Europe. Curator: But that weight, that very historical "continuity" as you call it, can be itself be a loaded political statement during times of intense societal shifts. What stories are deemed worthy of perpetuation? What ideologies are embedded in these symbols? I think the deliberate lightness of Escher's touch becomes significant here—it resists a grandiose interpretation of these symbols. It perhaps, opens them up for questioning. Editor: A point well taken, though I'd contend the dome as a symbol predates any nation-state's ambition and even any contemporary ideological use of those ancient imperial ideas... Curator: So, we see Escher capturing a moment in time. His approach reflects, on one level, universal symbols in a tumultuous period, in contrast to how others instrumentalized those symbols toward dangerous nationalist ends. Editor: Exactly. The symbols carry a timeless cultural weight, but Escher’s particular, delicate depiction imbues them with a personal, even fragile, sense of being. This juxtaposition—the eternal rendered with ephemerality—resonates deeply.