A couple years ago, I was wandering thru a local "second hand" store, and I came across this large photographic print that had been mounted to a heavy kind of board. The frame it had lived in was included but the small nails that held it in the frame had long ago given way. Both were in the back of this shop, in a stack of other framed items, leaning against the back wall.
What caught my eye, too, was the embossed, raised logo (inc. the name and address) of the photography studio, just below the print, in the center of the mounting board -- Fratelli Alinari, located in Florence, Italy (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fratelli_Alinari). I knew nothing of this studio, when I opted to snag this image for $8 bucks, frame included. I tried to photograph the embossed logo, but the the white-on-white raised impression would not read.
I took it home, and did some research. I also cleaned off the massive amounts of water based tape that was on the back of the board (shown in the last photo).
I learned that the photo was taken in 1890. The image is that of a beautiful fresco in the Vatican, called "Fire in the Borgo" done in 1514 and designed by Raphael (
http://allart.biz/photos/image/Raphael_25_The_Fire_in_the_Borgo.html). Further research ID'd the photographer as a man named Anderson, who was a respected 19th C photographer. Alinari had much of the artwork and frescoes of the Vatican photographed at this time.
Here are a few shots. And with Louie's help, just this morning, he concluded that this was a large, silver, albumin print. (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albumen_print) It measures 22.5 x 16.25 inches. Thanks again, Louie.
The board it is mounted to, measures 32" x 23.75" x 1/8" thick.
