Indian temple 

Giorgio Fuentes created this drawing of an Indian temple using pen and grey ink. But does this rendering of an Indian temple represent India? Perhaps it tells us more about Europe in the late 18th century. The architecture is an amalgamation of forms, taking elements from ancient Egypt, Greece, and perhaps even Rome. This was a period when Europe was rediscovering the ancient world, due in part to Napoleon's Egyptian campaigns of 1798. The drawing conflates different geographies and historical periods into one. This imagined Indian temple reflects the European fascination with exoticism during the Enlightenment. It's a projection of European desires and fantasies onto the East, rather than an accurate depiction. To understand this drawing, we need to investigate sources from the period. Travel literature, architectural treatises, and even philosophical texts can shed light on the complex relationship between Europe and the rest of the world during the Enlightenment. Through this, we can see how art both reflects and shapes our understanding of the world.