[Vesuvius from Mergellina]

Giacomo Caneva

ca. 1855 · Salted paper print from paper negative · Photographs

In this diffuse print trimmed to a narrow horizontal format, sea, sky, and land meet to create a minimalist study of light and tone. Caneva produced numerous marine views in the coastal towns of Anzio, Nettuno, and Ostia. In 1855 he traveled south, where he made photographs of Pompeii and this panorama of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. The same year, he published the first essay on photography in Italy: A Practical Treatise on Photography. He wrote of his preferred medium, “For every occasion, the paper negative offers an advantage, and for handling they can be conserved in a portfolio, they give no added weight to the assembly of the camera, and they do not puzzle in the laboratory.”

Artist

Giacomo Caneva

Date

ca. 1855

Medium

Salted paper print from paper negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Purchase, Mrs. Walter Annenberg and The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 2005