Latonavijver in de tuin van Versailles c. 1860 - 1880

Editor: This is a photograph, “Latonavijver in de tuin van Versailles,” or “The Latona Fountain in the Garden of Versailles,” by Ernest Eléonor Pierre Lamy, created sometime between 1860 and 1880. The sepia tone gives it a distant, almost dreamlike quality. What story do you think this image whispers to us? Curator: Whispers, exactly! It's less of a shout, more of a gentle sigh carried on the breeze. The Latona Fountain, right? A goddess punished, turned into a frog… or were they lizards? Point is, she offended someone powerful! Think of it – this incredible grandeur of Versailles, yet at its heart, a tale of divine retribution. Does that strike you as… ironic? Editor: Definitely! It's like the ultimate humblebrag, “Look at all this opulence, bought with the tears of those who dared cross me!” Curator: Or, perhaps, it's a meditation on power itself? The gardens are so meticulously ordered. What does that say about humanity's relationship with nature…and, by extension, its people? Notice how the rigid formality of the landscape pushes to the distance, as if power needs perspective to hold. But, what perspective? And for who? Is the point about how people’s individual stories, especially traumatic ones, fit into a much larger and older one about humanity and hubris? I wonder. Editor: That’s a much richer take than I first thought of! I initially just saw a pretty picture, but now I see all those layers of meaning hidden beneath the surface. Curator: Precisely. Beauty is a seduction, darling, and sometimes the greatest stories hide in plain sight, waiting for a keen eye to unravel them. A goddess in frog form, the heart of it all. Never forget the stories, even, and especially, the wet and slippery ones.