[Rome. Naples. Pompei]. Sommer, Giorgio. Fratelli Amodio. Photographic souvenir album, ca.1880

FULL DESCRIPTION: Rome Naples Pompeii album

[Rome. Naples. Pompei]. Sommer, Giorgio. Fratelli Amodio.
Photographic souvenir album, ca.1880, containing 100 albumen prints of Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and Capri.
(26 x 34 cm). 50 leaves of thick card stock, with two photographs (18 x 24.5 cm for the photos) per leaf, 100 images in all. Beautifully bound in contemporary gilt stamped parchment and red sheepskin, with gilt title on the front board, “Italia” and (likely) the previous owner’s name, “Howell” on the back board. The leaves are bound on cloth tabs allowing the album to open and the pages to turn easily, many of the original barrier sheets are present.

This excellently preserved photographic souvenir album contains photographs by Giorgio Sommer and the Amodio Brothers (Enrico and Michele) depicting Roman monuments and artworks (painting, frescoes, sculptures, and statues), views of Naples, Pompei, and Capri, as well as sculptures from Naples. The images are neither faded nor spotting and although the card stock leaves have a bit of warp to them, the album is solid and fresh.

That the album should contain images from two leading studios, suggests that the original owner (“Howell”) selected the images and had them specially bound, as opposed to purchasing a uniform album with pre-selected images.

The images from Rome include the Coliseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Piazza del Popolo, Constantine’s Arch, among others, while the images of paintings and frescoes are mostly from the collections in the Vatican, including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. From Pompei the views include the Temple of Jupiter and an exceptional image of a plaster cast of a young woman caught in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 C.E. The latter photo’s caption identifies it as being from the 1878 excavations, allowing us to date the album to c. 1880.

Enrico and Michele Amodio established their Atelier Amodio in Naples in 1860. They were active in the second half of the 19th century, and their photos are identified by the caption “Amodio: Atelier Photographie, Naples Rue Vittoria No. 7 à 17.” The firm was a successful one producing images for albums, while also participating in significant exhibitions, like the 1878 Universal Exhibition in Paris, with a series of photographs of Pompeii, views, monuments and paintings, for which they obtained a bronze medal.

Giorgio Sommer (1834-1914), originally from Frankfurt, was one of the leading and most prolific photographers of the 19th century. He established himself in Naples in 1856 and for 30 years produced thousands of photographs of archeological ruins, buildings and street scenes, landscapes, art objects, and portraiture. Sommer partnered with fellow German Edmondo Behles, in 1866 and they ran studios in Rome and Naples. There are six images in this album with his “G. Sommer – Napoli” stamp, while other images are likely by him as well, based on comparison with known images.