View of the Campo Vacino 1681

Editor: Here we have Melchior Küsel's "View of the Campo Vacino," a tiny etching on a rather large sheet of paper! It feels like a distant memory, a postcard from a grand tour. What do you see in it? Curator: I see layers of time, don't you? The crumbling Roman ruins juxtaposed against more contemporary structures. It's like Küsel is whispering, "Everything fades, darling, even empires, but beauty? Beauty lingers." Editor: Beauty lingers, I like that. So it's about the passage of time? Curator: Partly, yes, but also about perspective. Look how small the figures are. We're meant to feel dwarfed by history, perhaps. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, what future artists will etch of our own crumbling world? Editor: Wow, that's a thought. Thanks, I’ll definitely be pondering that.