View of the site where was the ancient Roman Forum 

This etching of the Roman Forum was created by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Notice the standing columns amidst the ruins, these are fragments of what once was, standing tall against the passage of time. Columns, throughout history, have signified strength, support, and connection. We see them replicated in sacred spaces across cultures, from the temples of ancient Greece to the grand cathedrals of Europe, as if humanity subconsciously seeks a tangible link between earth and the divine. But here, Piranesi presents them as ruins, broken and incomplete. They invoke a sense of melancholy, a meditation on the ephemeral nature of human achievement. Perhaps this is a reflection of our collective memory—a subconscious awareness that even the grandest civilizations eventually crumble, leaving behind fragments for future generations to ponder. A poignant reminder of the cyclical nature of history, ever repeating, ever evolving.