Roman Ruins n.d.

This drawing of Roman ruins was made anonymously, at an unknown date, with pen and brown ink, and gray wash, over graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, brown Japanese paper. The image presents us with a view of the decaying architecture of ancient Rome. What was once a symbol of imperial power and civic order is here depicted as fragmentary and overgrown with vegetation. This aesthetic of ruins became popular in the 18th century, fueled by archaeological discoveries and a general fascination with the transience of human achievement. The lack of specific information about its creator invites us to consider the image within the context of art education. Drawings such as this may have been produced as part of an artist's training, as students copied and studied classical forms to internalize principles of proportion, perspective, and design. By researching collections of drawings, artists' biographies, and the history of art academies, we might begin to reconstruct the social and institutional context of its making.