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| Fratelli D'Alessandri (1858–1950) | ||||||||||
| An Italian photographic studio, established by the brothers Antonio d'Alessandri (1818–1893), a priest, and Paolo Francesco d'Alessandri (1824–1889), began operating in Rome around 1858 and continued until its dissolution in 1950. The studio enjoyed immediate financial and social success, becoming one of the most important in Europe. Their works, presented at major international exhibitions, consisted mostly of portraits but also included other subjects, most notably scenes of military camps and battlefields, establishing the brothers as Italy's first photojournalists. Both born in L’Aquila, the brothers moved to Rome, where Antonio became the exclusive photographer to Pope Pius IX and the Vatican court, receiving a Papal gold medal in 1858. They appear to have had no formal training in photography, and the source of their rapid success remains uncertain, though Antonio’s Vatican connections likely played a significant role. Antonio developed an interest in photography at the Università Romana in 1852 and seems to have frequented the photographic studio of the Luswergh family nearby. By employing the new wet-collodion process, the brothers were able to produce images more swiftly to meet the high demand. In 1858, they opened a studio in Rome, said to be the first in the capital, and later a branch in Naples, with distribution facilities in Paris and Vienna. In 1859, Antonio was elected an honoured member of the Société Française de Photographie and befriended the renowned photographer Nadar. Paolo himself was a highly skilled photographer. Antonio’s son, Tito D'Alessandri, later became the studio's principal director, and its operation continued under Paolo's other children. The studio received awards in Florence in 1861, a gold medal in Rome in 1870, a gold medal in Paris in 1878, a bronze medal in Milan in 1881, and another gold medal in Rome in 1890. Although Paolo's children had all died by 1943, the studio continued to operate until 1950. | ||||||||||
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