Trofei di Mario, Rome 1776

Louis Chaix created "Trofei di Mario, Rome," using graphite and gray wash, a technique which was popular among eighteenth century artists who, like Chaix, often depicted famous monuments of Rome. This drawing places us amidst the ruins, overgrown with vegetation, evoking both the grandeur of the past and its inevitable decay. In the foreground, there are two figures that seem to embody the act of bearing witness, perhaps sketching or documenting the scene. The picturesque view is an aesthetic that was very fashionable at the time. It was a way of idealizing the past, and of making it palatable to the present. However, if we linger with this image, we might ask ourselves who gets to decide what is beautiful, what is worth preserving, and whose stories are told in these ruins. The crumbling structure prompts questions about power, memory, and the narratives we construct around historical sites, and of who is included or excluded in those narratives.