Straat met het paleis van Axel Oxenstierna in Stockholm 1670

Jean Marot created this print of the street with Axel Oxenstierna's palace in Stockholm in the 17th century. Marot, as a French artist, likely saw Stockholm through a lens shaped by his own cultural values. The image presents a rigid hierarchy. Oxenstierna, an important Swedish statesman, is memorialized through his grand palace, while smaller figures populate the space in front of the building. The palace stands as a monument to power and wealth, contrasting with the lives of the ordinary people depicted in the print. What does it mean to immortalize the powerful and wealthy? Whose stories are elevated, and whose are marginalized? The image captures a moment in time, but also speaks to enduring questions about power, representation, and the stories we choose to tell. How do we reconcile celebrating individual achievement with acknowledging systemic inequality?