Ostia, Rome (Hostia) c. 16th century

Editor: Here we have Hendrick van Cleve III's "Ostia, Rome", a 16th-century engraving. I’m really struck by the intricate detail; you can almost feel the bustling port. What do you see when you look at it? Curator: I see a meticulously crafted image, but I'm immediately drawn to the process itself. Look at the labor involved in creating this. How does the act of engraving, the physical tooling of the metal plate, shape our understanding of Rome's port, Ostia, as a site of trade and material exchange? Editor: That's a really interesting point. I hadn't considered the labor behind it, only what the image represents. Curator: Exactly. And how does this print, as a commodity itself, participate in the very systems of trade and consumption it depicts? It's not just an image; it's an object within a network. Editor: So, you're saying the print is both a representation of trade and an element of it. That gives me a lot to think about. Curator: Indeed. It makes you consider the print's original audience, and the social context for making art.