967 - Unknown (19th century), Lake Maggiore, Isola Madre with the Palazzo, circa 1880, albumen paper print

Unknown (19th century), Lake Maggiore, Isola Madre with the Palazzo, circa 1880, albumen paper print Unknown (19th century): Italy: "Lake Maggiore: Isola Madre with an antique palazzo," circa 1880, albumen paper print Technique: albumen paper print, mounted on cardboard Inscription: Labeled and numbered at the bottom of the photograph: “1964 Lago Maggiore. Pallauzo e Isola Madre.” Photograph of the island known worldwide for its exquisite botanical collections. The interiors of the ancient palazzo contain precious furnishings from the Borromeo family. Date: c. 1880 Description: “Isola Madre. It is the most sensual place in the world I have ever visited.” (G. Flaubert, 1845) Original photograph with high-detail sharpness. An early example of travel photography. Around the middle of the 19th century, more and more tourists from bourgeois circles traveled to Italy. At that time, taking photographs required a great deal of time and involved expensive, cumbersome equipment. This made many tourists all the more grateful for the services of professional photography studios on site, allowing them to bring back a souvenir from their vacation or collect them as mementos. Famous photographers such as Carlo Naya, Giorgio Sommer, and the Alinari brothers photographed the most famous sights in their home cities and traveled themselves to photograph their customers’ favorite destinations, offering them as albumen prints. Ancient art treasures were also photographed and made available to travelers. The high-quality photographs of sculptures and frescoes continued to make an important contribution to documenting these art treasures and making them accessible to scholars from all over Europe, who previously had to rely on copies or engravings if they were unable to view the originals themselves. Keywords: 19th century, Historicism, Landscape, Italy, Size: Cardboard: 20.0 cm x 25.2 cm (7.9 x 9.9 in) Condition: Good condition. The image is very well preserved. The photograph is discolored along the edges; there is foxing in places in the sky area; there are occasional fine creases on the fine albumen paper; the backing is slightly wavy due to mounting.