Personificatie van Rome, gezeten op een zuil en gekroond door de Overwinning 1600 - 1667

Curator: I’m drawn to the somber gravity of this print. It's titled "Personification of Rome, seated on a column and crowned by Victory.” It dates to somewhere between 1600 and 1667, and the Rijksmuseum holds this impression created by Michel Lasne. Editor: The shadows, oh, the shadows! There's such a starkness to the light that cuts across everything. Makes me feel like I’ve stumbled into some epic dream. What is it even made of? Looks carved almost, a scene straight from myth… Curator: You’ve touched on the print’s technique. Lasne worked with engraving, using lines to build form and volume. Note the allegorical density – Rome, in classical garb, being crowned… while below, figures are bound beneath the famous she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. Editor: Ah, classic move—dangle salvation over struggle, right? I wonder, did the artist feel some kinship with those tethered figures? The way they huddle…like a primal scream turned visual. The figures beneath seem to drag the work down, yet their drama is an odd pull. Curator: One might consider the print’s historical function, a frontispiece perhaps? These images were potent declarations of authority, layering classical allusions to underscore present-day power structures. Look closely at the symbolism packed onto every square inch. Editor: Every detail is rendered with painstaking detail—though I'll be frank—I feel this detail flattens into symbolism. The longer I gaze, the more the feeling of sadness recedes—what prevails in the end is the craftsmanship and care taken by Lasne, the man behind the myth! Curator: It invites us to look both forwards and backwards. The grandeur feels tempered by those subtle anxieties. Editor: Precisely, making it an enduring meditation on Rome, not just a stale snapshot. Thanks to its layered nuances, I have much to chew on!