Villa D'Este, Lago di Como, Italy 19th-20th century

Editor: This watercolor is titled "Villa D'Este, Lago di Como, Italy," by Denman Waldo Ross, and it's housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It feels very dreamlike to me. What symbols or visual cues stand out to you? Curator: The tower immediately draws my eye. Do you see how it pierces the composition? Towers, historically, represent power, aspiration, but also isolation. Its verticality against the horizontal lake creates a tension. Editor: That's interesting. I was just seeing it as part of the landscape. Curator: Consider how water is often a symbol of the unconscious, of reflection. The tower reflected might suggest humanity's attempts to control or understand nature. What do you think? Editor: I hadn't considered how the reflection adds another layer of meaning. Thanks, I'll look at landscapes differently now! Curator: Indeed, landscape is never just landscape. It is cultural memory made visible.