View of the Colosseum of Rome 18th-19th century

Editor: This is Francesco Morelli's "View of the Colosseum of Rome," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It has a very picturesque quality to it, almost like a postcard. What stands out to you? Curator: I’m drawn to the printmaking process itself. Consider the labor involved in creating such detail, the paper's origins, and how this image, made reproducible, circulated and was consumed by tourists and collectors alike. What was the social context that made this type of image popular? Editor: That's fascinating; I hadn't considered the print's journey beyond its artistic merit. Curator: Exactly! It makes us think about the Colosseum as a product, a commodity even, viewed and consumed. Editor: So it is about deconstructing our understanding of fine art? Curator: Precisely, yes. Thinking about it in terms of materiality changes everything.