View of the source and the caverns of Egeria 

Editor: Here we have Piranesi's "View of the source and the caverns of Egeria", an etching that feels both monumental and a little melancholy. It depicts classical ruins overtaken by nature. What stands out to you about this print? Curator: The lines in Piranesi’s etching speak volumes about the economics of image production. Etching allowed for relatively quick reproduction. Think about the sheer scale of labor required to quarry and dress the stones for these ancient buildings, then contrast it with the comparatively faster etching process to reproduce the image of their ruins for consumption by a new audience. What is being commodified here? The stones? The view? Editor: I see what you mean. It’s like he's turning ancient labor into a commodity for 18th-century viewers. Curator: Exactly! The architectural precision serves as documentation, but consider the paper and ink. These were increasingly accessible materials in Piranesi's time, fueling a boom in printed imagery. It raises questions about the democratization of art versus the continued control of its means of production, wouldn't you agree? Is this making classical art accessible, or packaging it for consumption? Editor: That's a good question, is he democratizing the view, or just creating a souvenir for the Grand Tour? I never really thought of landscape this way! Curator: Think about who would have purchased these prints, their social status, how they engaged with them. Even the act of collecting these images was a status symbol, a way of claiming ownership, in a sense, over the past. Editor: Right, and even today we are studying them. Thanks, I am rethinking this work!