Arcadisch landschap met antieke gebouwen en enkele figuren 1745

Louis Fabritius Dubourg created this drawing titled 'Arcadian landscape with antique buildings and some figures' sometime between 1708 and 1775 using pen and brown ink and brush in gray. Dubourg's landscape invites us to consider the pervasive longing for an idealized past during the 18th century, a period marked by significant social and political upheaval. This was a time when the rigid hierarchies of the old aristocratic order were starting to face the challenges of Enlightenment ideals centered on reason and equality. Notice the classical ruins, symbols of a bygone era of order and grandeur. The figures are arranged in the landscape with the intention to evoke a sense of serene contemplation. What do you make of this construction of nostalgia? Are these idealized visions an innocent attempt to connect with history, or do they serve to mask the inequalities of Dubourg’s contemporary society? Reflecting on the emotional dimensions of nostalgia, it’s worth questioning whose stories are remembered and celebrated, and whose are conveniently forgotten.