Gezicht op de Toren van de winden (Horologium van Andronicus van Cyrrhus) 1758

Jacques Philippe Le Bas created this print, "View of the Tower of the Winds in Athens," using etching and engraving techniques. Le Bas was working during the Enlightenment, an era of increased interest in classical antiquity and its influence on European culture. This print captures not just a historical monument, but also the social dynamics of 18th-century Athens under Ottoman rule. We see figures in traditional Ottoman dress, which positions them as both inhabitants of the space and stand-ins for a complex interplay of power, history, and cultural identity. Consider how Le Bas, a Western European artist, interprets and represents this scene. His gaze reflects a scholarly interest in ancient Greece, but also introduces questions of orientalism, of how Western artists have historically portrayed the "East." The print invites us to reflect on the layers of history embedded in a single site, and how art mediates our understanding of cultural encounters across time.