The Circo Florae in Sallustio 1641

Curator: This is Giacomo Lauro's "The Circo Florae in Sallustio," a plate held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels like a stage, almost theatrical, with that strong central obelisk drawing the eye upwards. What kind of performances took place here? Curator: The print depicts an imagined reconstruction, based on Roman texts, of the Circus dedicated to Flora. This was during the height of the Renaissance's fascination with rediscovering and visualizing the classical world. Editor: Flora, the goddess of flowering plants; that obelisk is almost phallic. Were the performances tied to fertility rites? What's the psychological charge of these reconstructed symbols? Curator: The Floralia were indeed festivals of fertility and renewal, known for their… exuberance. Lauro's image, though, presents a sanitized, architectural vision, shaping collective memory of Roman spectacle. Editor: It’s a powerful statement about the Renaissance itself—reshaping and containing history, a political act of claiming cultural lineage and authority. Curator: Precisely. We see how historical visions become tools for the present. Editor: A fascinating intersection of the past and its projected future.