939 - FRATELLI ALINARI (19th) Circle, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, around 1880, albumen paper print Fratelli Alinari (19th century) Circle: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral with still intact tower, c. 1880, albumen paper print Technique: albumen paper print, mounted on Cardboard Inscription: Titled at the bottom of the image. Date: c. 1880 Description: Very nice view of the west façade of one of the earliest Gothic church buildings in France. Original photograph with high sharpness of detail. An early example of travel photography. Around the middle of the 19th century, more and more tourists from bourgeois circles traveled around Europe. At that time, photographs could only be taken at great expense in terms of time and with expensive, unwieldy equipment. This made many tourists all the more grateful for the work of the professional photographer's studios on site, so that they could bring back a souvenir from their holiday home or collect them as mementos. The photographers photographed the most famous sights of their home towns and cities and traveled themselves to photograph their customers' favorite destinations and offer them as albumen prints. Ancient art treasures were also photographed and offered to travelers. The high-quality photographs of sculptures and frescoes continued to make an important contribution to documenting the art treasures and making them accessible to scholars from all over Europe, who had previously had to rely on copies or engravings if they were unable to view the originals themselves. Keywords: 19th century, Historicism, Architecture, France, Size: Cardboard: 25,1 cm x 32,9 cm (9,9 x 13 in), Depiction: 20,8 cm x 27,3 cm (8,2 x 10,7 in) Condition: Rather good condition. The image makes a very good impression. Slight marginal tears at lower left and at the upper edge; the sheet is foxed in the margins due to its age, with small ink stains in the right image area; slight rubbing in the right background.