Gezicht op het Forum Romanum te Rome 1629

Giovanni Battista Mercati created this etching, *Gezicht op het Forum Romanum te Rome,* sometime between the late 16th and mid-17th century. Mercati, an Italian engraver and printmaker, situates us in what was once the heart of the Roman Empire. In this landscape, classical antiquity and the rise of Catholicism collide. The ruins of the Roman Forum, represented by fragmented columns, speak of the transience of power. Looming behind, the architecture of churches serve as a reminder of the Vatican’s growing dominance. What stories do these ruins tell, and who gets to tell them? Does it feel like a eulogy to the past, or a celebration of the new world order? While the Forum embodies an era of emperors, senators, and citizen participation, it also signifies a society built on slavery, patriarchy, and conquest. Mercati invites us to contemplate the complexities of our relationship to the past.