Description

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A unique portrait of nineteenth-century Italy as seen through the eyes of the first generation of British photographers

This book examines the ways in which the new medium of photography influenced the British experience, appreciation, and perception of Italy in the nineteenth century. Setting photography within a long history of image making—beginning with the eighteenth-century Grand Tour and transformed by the inventions of William Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre—this beautifully illustrated book features many previously unpublished images alongside the work of well-known photographers. The sixteen essays in this volume explore photography as a vehicle for visual translation and cultural exchange.

Distributed for the Yale Center for British Art

About the Author

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Maria Antonella Pelizzari is professor of art history at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Scott Wilcox is the former deputy director for collections at the Yale Center for British Art.
 

Praise For…

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“Anyone interested in Italy will be fascinated and enchanted by The Idea of Italy: Photography and the British Imagination, 1840–1900. Edited by Maria Antonella Pelizzari and Scott Wilcox, it features sixteen essays exploring a wide range of topics—from tourist images of ‘a ghostly landscape of well-lit but unpopulated historical sites’ to picturesque peasants and outlaws, costumed models and Risorgimento heroes.”—James Hall, Times Literary Supplement, “Books of 2022”

“Including some 185 excellent reproductions of photographs and other media . . . the book is a valuable contribution to the literature.”—W. S. Johnson, Choice