Gezicht op de Arena van Verona, Italië 1860 - 1870

Curator: We're looking at a gelatin-silver print from between 1860 and 1870, titled "Gezicht op de Arena van Verona, Italië," attributed to Ferrier Père-Fils et Soulier. It’s a stereoscopic view of the ancient Roman arena. Editor: My first impression is a feeling of awe tinged with melancholy. The grandeur of the arena is evident, but the stark black and white and the slightly distressed print quality hint at the passage of time and the inevitable decay of even the most monumental structures. Curator: Precisely. Let’s consider the context of its making. The firm of Ferrier, Père et Fils and Charles Soulier were prominent producers of stereoscopic views, catering to a growing appetite for tourism and accessible versions of world monuments among the middle classes. These images became commodities. Editor: Absolutely. The arena itself is rich in symbolic weight, a physical embodiment of Roman power, spectacle, and even brutality. Its survival speaks volumes about cultural memory and the ways societies choose to remember and commemorate certain values. Even the statues feel incredibly present. Curator: And we must remember the materiality of that photographic print itself. A gelatin silver print required specific chemicals, a darkroom, skilled labor—processes often obscured in the final presented object. Its physical existence, handled and reproduced, becomes part of its story of circulation. Editor: Indeed, the play of light and shadow in this print creates a sense of depth and solidity, enhancing the arena's imposing presence. The arches themselves evoke the cycles of history and the constant interplay between past and present, strength and vulnerability. I see in each of the repeating archways echoes of triumphs, sufferings, communal experiences. Curator: So we’re both highlighting processes—one of production, and the other of social resonance— that give this piece power and weight. Editor: Yes. It strikes me now, that for a modern viewer, looking at this stereoscopic view feels strangely intimate. Curator: An artifact mediating memory and manufactured history.