Ancient Tomb in Via Nomentana c. 18th century

Curator: This is Johann Christian Reinhart's "Ancient Tomb in Via Nomentana," a stark etching of a Roman ruin overtaken by nature. It's at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s melancholic, isn’t it? The tomb feels haunted, not just by history, but by the ghosts of power imbalances that civilizations build upon. Curator: Absolutely. Reinhart captures that romantic desolation so well. Look how the structure crumbles, yet stubbornly stands. It makes you wonder about who gets remembered, and why. Editor: And the pastoral scene playing out around it. The shepherd, the animals… it's almost mocking in its obliviousness to the grandeur that once was, which is the point, isn't it? Erasure isn't passive. Curator: Yes, I think Reinhart is inviting us to confront that erasure, to consider how time and nature reshape even the most imposing structures, physically and symbolically. Editor: Ultimately, this image makes me question our own monuments, both physical and ideological, and who they truly serve. It’s a powerful meditation on impermanence. Curator: Indeed, a memento mori etched in ink, reminding us that nothing, however grand, lasts forever.