Achterzijde van Palazzo Farnese te Rome 1699

Curator: We're looking at "Achterzijde van Palazzo Farnese te Rome" or "Rear view of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome", an ink and paper drawing from 1699 by Alessandro Specchi. Editor: The first impression for me is the sheer volume represented, so precise, but something about the contrast is almost cold and austere. What is drawing my eye? I think, it’s that so much of this piece must rely on the craft of the engraving. Curator: Baroque architecture, as you know, is deeply symbolic. The Palazzo Farnese embodies power, family lineage and civic pride. It's fascinating how the addition of the loggia modifies not just the structure, but the representation of its status in Rome, the power asserted onto the urban landscape, the relationship to its audience and the way power is performed publicly. The people depicted are diminutive figures against the sheer stone facade. Editor: Yes, and think of the amount of labor invested, both in building this structure but in its replication through printing methods accessible in theory but restricted for most during that time period! It's important to remember how prints served as prototypes and how builders adapted these in various geographical locations. There's this inherent tension, isn't there, between architecture meant to last centuries and a relatively disposable image on paper, and how this changes social value? Curator: Precisely. Notice the people on horseback— are they meant to further highlight this concept, by drawing our eye between the architectural magnitude and what appears to be fleeting scenes of human experience? Editor: I like your reading there, given the transience suggested between humans depicted near stone. Let's not forget that we also see, very visibly, the material presence of ink meeting paper here, making sure our relationship isn't too seduced into ideas of an objective representation of stone buildings. We, the viewer, are constantly reminded of labor. The hand that built the architecture and the hand which depicts that architecture via pen on paper. Curator: It reminds us of the multiple layers of visual encoding occurring at once. It moves beyond depiction into the territory of re-interpreting historical, and cultural meaning into form. Editor: A material object, like this print, transforms in its role by offering insight into a larger set of forces in labor, architecture, material processes and human desires, past and present.