Onderkant van een boog en rechts de Zuil van Trajanus of Marcus Aurelius 1562 - 1717

This print of the underside of an arch and Trajan’s column was created in the Netherlands by Joannes van Doetechum around 1600. Architectural prints like this one played an important role in the cultural life of the early modern period. At this time, the art world was dominated by classical values, so Italian ruins were seen as a key to understanding the aesthetic values of the ancient world. Northern European artists commonly traveled to Italy to study these monuments firsthand. For those who couldn’t make the journey, prints became a vital means of circulating knowledge about classical architecture. These prints helped shape artistic tastes and fueled debates about the proper way to revive classical forms in contemporary buildings, and they also served as souvenirs for wealthy tourists. By studying the details in these kinds of prints, and by looking at letters, travel journals, and architectural treatises, we can learn much more about the history of art institutions and the social life of images.