Fissore’s Plow from Tortona, Plow from Parma

Pietro Semplicini

1861 · Albumen silver print from collodion negative · Photographs

Trained as a chemist, Semplicini became an ardent promoter of photography and founded Italy’s first professional organization for photographers (the Società Fotografica Toscana) in 1853. His expertise earned him a prestigious commission to document the 1861 Esposizione Italiana, which celebrated the newly declared Kingdom of Italy by presenting the best the country had to offer, from inventions to fine art. This straightforward composition situates two ploughs against the spare backdrop of the exhibition hall’s exterior. Its studied geometry highlights the machinery’s carefully crafted structures, thereby attesting to Italian ingenuity and artisanal skill. The photograph belongs to a series of 150 plates published in an album honoring the event.

Artist

Pietro Semplicini

Date

1861

Medium

Albumen silver print from collodion negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation Gift, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, 2015