Hotel de Ville, Cologne 1833

This is Samuel Prout's "Hotel de Ville, Cologne," a drawing made sometime before his death in 1852. Prout was part of a generation of artists captivated by the picturesque, seeking out scenes of quaint beauty across Europe. Note how the architecture looms, rendered with meticulous detail. Yet, it’s the figures populating the foreground that capture our attention. They offer a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people against the backdrop of grand civic structures. Are they citizens, tourists, or perhaps a mix of both? Consider the role of the artist in shaping our view. Prout, an outsider, captures Cologne through his own lens. The picturesque flattens the real, yet, it also allows for encounters across cultural divides. Think about the identities, histories, and stories that converge in this single moment, captured in ink and paper. How do these narratives inform our understanding of place, belonging, and the act of seeing itself?