977 - Unknown (19th century), The Lion of St. Mark in the Piazzetta, Venice, around 1880, albumen print

Unknown (19th century), The Lion of St. Mark in the Piazzetta, Venice, around 1880, albumen print Unknown (19th century): Detailed view of the bronze Lion of St. Mark on the Colonna di San Maro in the Piazzetta at the Doge’s Palace in Venice, c. 1880, albumen print Technique: albumen paper print, mounted on cardboard Inscription: At the bottom, inscribed on the backing: "- Venise - Lion de St. Marc [...]". Date: c. 1880 Description: Original photograph with high level of detail and sharpness. An early example of travel photography. Around the middle of the 19th century, more and more tourists from the bourgeoisie 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 home 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 these images 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: travel photography; souvenir; veduta; view; architectural photography; Italy; Doge’s Palace; St. Mark’s Basilica; sculpture; bronze; lion; antiquity, 19th century, Historicism, Architecture, Italy, Size: Cardboard: 27.0 cm x 34.0 cm (10.6 x 13.4 in), Image: 18.9 cm x 24.6 cm (7.4 x 9.7 in) Condition: In fairly good condition. The photograph and backing are noticeably wavy. Sporadic brownish discoloration is visible along the edges. The upper left corner of the sheet has pale brown stains. Dust is visible in places on the photographic plate.