A Reconstruction of the Temple of Fortuna 1690 - 1704

Curator: What a fascinating piece! This drawing, completed between 1690 and 1704 by Jan Goeree, offers "A Reconstruction of the Temple of Fortuna". Notice the print and engraving work, the neoclassicism, the geometry, and especially the architecture showcased. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: My first thought? Stately, but kind of sad. Like seeing the ghost of a grand building, or the faded memory of an empire, all rendered in shades of sepia. Is that even a real architectural drawing? Or someone dreaming up the past? Curator: Precisely, you hit on the evocative core of its effect. Goeree wasn't simply documenting; he was re-imagining. The precision in depicting the temple's Doric order contrasts with the romantic suggestion of ruin through that figure lounging with the inscription. Semiotics underscore the artist's deep theoretical involvement. Editor: Inscriptions aside, he looks utterly bored! Surrounded by architectural grandeur but disconnected, a little bit louche and definitely slouching. The temple behind is neat—classic Greek revival meets mausoleum chic. Did they have Ancient Roman reality TV, I wonder? What’s Fortuna got to do with it anyway? Curator: Fortuna represents chance, fate; her temple symbolized a community’s hope for prosperity, so Goeree may be critiquing faith itself through this supposed ruin, even as neoclassicism reemerged as a dominant artistic and philosophical mode. Notice how the geometric symmetry imposes rationality onto potentially capricious cultural anxieties. Editor: Rational anxiety… yes, I can definitely get on board with that. Still, the man lying there with coins scattered about gives a contrary story that I think resonates most with our times—tired, beautiful, over it. All those perfect columns just make his languid pose even more striking, in my view. A kind of soft rebellion rendered in sepia tones. Curator: A provocative take indeed. Through this engraving we can unpack the complexities of its era; you have encouraged us to find in it threads relevant to our own! Thank you. Editor: Well, thanks to Goeree’s beautiful ruin for giving us so much to chew over today. Maybe next time, we should try not to visit monuments on Mondays...