Reliëf Priamus voor Achilles in de Tomba degli Anicii, Via Latina, Rome 1890 - 1925

This photograph was taken by James Anderson in Rome, capturing a relief of Priam before Achilles in the Tomba degli Anicii. It’s not painting but the artist’s hand is all over this, shaping the clay, coaxing a scene into being from the depths of the material. I imagine Anderson standing before the tomb, sunlight glinting, trying to capture the story etched in stone. Look at the way Priam is begging, head bowed, while Achilles, reclined, seems almost nonchalant. The details are incredible—the folds in their robes, the tension in the horses, it is an epic moment, frozen in time. The photograph itself flattens the relief, and you feel the exchange is charged with emotion and history and think about the relationship between storytelling and image-making. We bring to the image our own meanings. What do you see?