Fontein met man met staf 1745

Georg Sigmund Rösch made this print of a fountain, sometime before his death in 1766. It's a classic example of garden design meant to impress. Prints like this one circulated widely in eighteenth-century Europe and played a key role in shaping elite taste. They showed off the latest fashions in architecture, clothing, and, of course, garden design. Here, water cascades over elaborate stonework, while classical figures pose above. Beyond, a formal garden stretches to an imposing building. The entire image speaks to the patron’s wealth and power. To truly understand this image, we might consult estate records, architectural treatises, and even conduct archaeological research. These sources help us reconstruct the social world in which this image circulated and the values it promoted. Art like this reflected, and helped reinforce, a rigid social hierarchy.