Ekphrasis: Borghese Gallery

           The shop is dimly lit. Paintings cover all of the golden walls and when they cannot fit, they lean against bureaus and the wall. At the center is a queen on a red throne. Other paintings in the room include still life, landscapes, round portraits, feasts, and religious images. Above the paintings is a wooden ledge where small colorless statues either lay down or stand up. They vaguely resembled ancient statues of gods and goddesses, frozen in different positions.

            Fresh flowers in a vase were freshly placed on a table to the right and sea shells were collected and displayed on the center bureau. In the center of the wooden floor is a small monkey. He is tied to a stool and leaves an apricot along with its pit on the ground, waiting to finish it when he gets hungry again. A couple feet over, a small dog rests. She examines the monkey, not wanting to take her eyes off of this strange new collection item.

Three men sit at a desk in the corner of the room. Two of them lean over a large book and argue over its contents. One man accuses the collector of ignorance by pointing to his brain. The collector, shocked that this allegation applies to him, points to himself. Another book is opened out to the viewer, the page is turning itself, as if we are reading in this space as well. The third man sits in the shadows. He looks directly at the viewer, inviting us into the antique shop and to view more paintings than are already around us. Did the paintings we see around us come from a collection like this?

(Borghese Gallery, 6/5/19, Frans Francken il Giovane, La Bottega Di Un Antiquario, 1615-1620)