Triumphal Arch in a Landscape before 1753

Giuseppe Antonio Landi created this print of a Triumphal Arch in a Landscape sometime in the mid-18th century. During this period, the Triumphal Arch motif was used to celebrate military victories, and was a status symbol for those in power. This print makes me consider who gets celebrated, and whose triumphs are commemorated in the public sphere. The statue inside the arch depicts a conquering male figure, a figure that is a loaded representation of power, dominance, and perhaps also exclusion. I’m curious about the contrast between the formal, rigid architecture and the wild, untamed landscape. It is as though Landi is suggesting that even the most formidable structures are subject to the forces of nature, that all power is temporary. What does it mean to build monuments to power? Who gets to decide which stories are told and celebrated, and which ones are left out of the narrative?