A Grotto (The Stables of the Villa Maecenas, Tivoli?) c. 1700

Editor: So, this ink drawing, "A Grotto (The Stables of the Villa Maecenas, Tivoli?)" was created around 1700 by Francis Place. It’s got a cool, cavernous feel to it…almost like a stage set. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: A stage set, exactly! The drama of light and shadow, it's positively theatrical. It's as though Place has stumbled upon the ruins and is re-imagining its past grandeur, embellishing its potential. He seems not so much interested in what was, but rather what could have been. Don’t you find that the monochromatic palette and fluid lines create a dreamlike, almost melancholic atmosphere? It really sparks my imagination. Editor: Absolutely, melancholic! I hadn't quite landed on that. The scene almost feels incomplete, waiting for actors. Do you think he visited the site? Or imagined the scene? Curator: The question, isn't it? And perhaps the more exciting prospect: that the place visited him! Given the suggestive "Tivoli?" in the work's title, I rather love to believe that his mind travelled back in time and invented an Italian reminiscence for the Baroque age, tinged by a deep Northern European Romanticism. Maybe the drawing is not an eyewitness account, but rather the invention of an intensely subjective vision of Ancient Rome and a yearning to connect with it. Do you find yourself longing, just a bit? Editor: I do, now that you mention it. I was focused on the form, but your take really unlocks something. I suppose that's the real magic trick. Curator: Exactly. Art has the power to re-orchestrate the past and remix it with a dose of hope for the future. That’s something, right? Editor: Absolutely. I'll never see landscapes the same way again!