Date
1860-1880
Object Type
Photograph
Subject
Gardens of Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, with part of the nymph decorated with mosaic and the small neo-Medieval fortress above.
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
About The Work
This plate belongs to a volume of Il Bel Paese. Meraviglie Artistiche Monumentali e Pittoriche dell’Italia, a remarkable collection of 24 photographic albums forming a comprehensive iconographic survey of Italian landscapes, architecture and works of art. Containing approximately 4,725 photographic prints, the collection records both major artistic centres and more remote localities, extending from the rural villages of the Lombardy lakes to the southern reaches of the peninsula, including Sicily.
The albums are numbered from 1 to 29, with volumes 3, 4, 7, 25, and 27 missing. Due to the scarcity of documentation concerning the collection’s arrival at the Accademia di Brera, it remains unclear whether these gaps existed from the outset or resulted from later losses. The albums consist predominantly of albumen prints, alongside a smaller number of salted paper and photomechanical prints. Neither the provenance of the collection nor the individual responsible for assembling the collection has been identified. The albums were most likely compiled between circa 1890 and 1910, although many of the photographs, which were produced by a variety of photographers, date from earlier decades, between the 1860s and the mid-1880s.
The collaged photographic compositions found on many pages, occasionally embellished with hand-drawn interventions, suggest the involvement of a figure connected to an academic milieu. In fact, the collection embodies a model of nineteenth-century teaching practice, in which photography functioned as a means of organising historical-artistic knowledge, and, over time, contributing to the construction of the Academy’s institutional memory.
The albums are numbered from 1 to 29, with volumes 3, 4, 7, 25, and 27 missing. Due to the scarcity of documentation concerning the collection’s arrival at the Accademia di Brera, it remains unclear whether these gaps existed from the outset or resulted from later losses. The albums consist predominantly of albumen prints, alongside a smaller number of salted paper and photomechanical prints. Neither the provenance of the collection nor the individual responsible for assembling the collection has been identified. The albums were most likely compiled between circa 1890 and 1910, although many of the photographs, which were produced by a variety of photographers, date from earlier decades, between the 1860s and the mid-1880s.
The collaged photographic compositions found on many pages, occasionally embellished with hand-drawn interventions, suggest the involvement of a figure connected to an academic milieu. In fact, the collection embodies a model of nineteenth-century teaching practice, in which photography functioned as a means of organising historical-artistic knowledge, and, over time, contributing to the construction of the Academy’s institutional memory.
Title
Prospettiva nei giardini rappresentante = La Fortezza di Saragozza.
Subject
Gardens of Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, with part of the nymph decorated with mosaic and the small neo-Medieval fortress above.
Creator
Antonio Nessi
Date
1860-1880
Object Type
Photograph
Technique / Support
Albumen print
Dimensions
mm 299x400
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
Unique identifier
ICCD_MIDF_6015154352771