Memory of the World Programme
Nomination
Italy – Alinari Archives
PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1. Summary
The Alinari Archives, first established in 1852, preserve a photographic heritage that now
comprises 3,500,000 originals (negatives, films, vintage positive prints, daguerreotypes, etc.).
This structural and systematic collection is a historical record of a century and a half of
the political, economic, cultural and social life, not only of Italy, but also of other countries that
have been linked in various ways with Italy.
It documents the most varied aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century history, from
rural and urban landscapes to industrialization processes, from the development of land
communication links to modern communication networks, from art photography to records of
contemporary artistic movements.
Using the very latest multimedia technologies, the Alinari archive managers train
specialists in applied techniques as part of a course on the history of art photography, in which
conservation and restoration play an important role. The Alinari Archives also include a
constantly growing museum concerned not only with image production techniques (from the
magnifying glass to photographic and printing equipment), but also with the ways in which
image presentation has evolved over time, from albums to frames.
Mention should lastly be made of the collections devoted to museums, monuments and
sites in Italy and elsewhere in the world, as being of great international significance.
2. Details of the nominator
2.1 Name
Italian National Memory of the World Committee
2.2 Relationship with the nominated documentary heritage
2.3 Contact person (if appropriate)
Ms Clara Celati
Italian National Commission for UNESCO
Piazza di Firenze, 27 00186 Roma
Tel 0039 06 6873723 p. 222
Clara.celati@esteri.it
2.4 Full contact details
Person in charge:
Dott. Ssa Emanuela Sesti
Archivi Alinari – Fratelli Alinari I.D.E.A. S.p.A. Largo Fratelli Alinari, 15
50123 Firenze
Italy
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3. Identity and description of the documentary heritage
3.1 Name of the documentary heritage
Archivi e raccolte Alinari
Country: ITALY
State, province or region: ITALY
Address:
Archivi Alinari – Fratelli Alinari I.D.E.A. S.p.A. – largo Fratelli Alinari 15 – 50123 FIRENZE
Italy
3.2 Description:
The photographic heritage of the Alinari Company consists of some 3,500,000 items, including
negatives (plates and films), collotype prints, colour photographs, etc. The materials in part
constitute the heritage of the Alinari firm from its founding in 1852 to the present day. This also
includes new acquisitions made by the company in the late 1950s and items donated to and
purchased by the Alinari Museum of Photographic History, which was established in 1985. The
heritage has been further enriched as a result of the recent photographic campaigns organized by
Alinari, particularly in Italian museums, under an agreement with the Ministry for the Heritage
and Cultural Affairs whereby Alinari is authorized to organize photographic exhibitions in
Italian museums, archives and libraries. The holdings consist either of photographic archives
(e.g. Alinari, Brogi, Anderson, Villani, Michetti, etc.) or of photographic collections bringing
together different materials or artists. The items are divided by typology (negatives, positives,
colour photographs) and by technique (glass plates, films, calotypes, etc.); they are also divided
into archives or collections. The archives are likewise divided by typology or serial inventory
number (with reference to catalogues), or according to alphabetical order or typography or
iconographic theme. Each item has an alphanumeric inventory number (with registration
documents attached).
Some items have been catalogued and some stored on microfiche.
Work is currently under way to digitize the holdings and create an electronic catalogue, which
will enable the public to consult online an initial selection of 180,000 images from the archives.
The cataloguing system, developed in collaboration with the Universities of Florence, Venice
and Nijmegen (Netherlands), provides for the detailed analysis of the photographs, with regard
either to photography or to the different techniques.
A hierarchical thesaurus facilitates iconographic searches at different levels and in a wide variety
of subject areas.
See also:
http://www.alinari.it
http://edu.alinari.it/login/index.asp
(see enclosed items)
http://www.alinari.it
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PRESENTATION
Fratelli Alinari, established in Florence in 1852, is the world’s oldest surviving company
in the field of photography, i.e. in the vital sector of images and communication. Since 1863, its
headquarters have been at the Palazzo Alinari, Via Nazionale 8, (now Largo Alinari 15), which
also housed the famous and much visited photo parlour. To the “historical” institutions, i.e. the
Archives, the Stamperia d’Arte, the publishing house and the photographic library, which have
always formed part of the Alinari establishment, was added in 1985 the Fratelli Alinari Museum
of Photographic History, the first of its kind in Italy and one of only 16 in the world. It is devoted
entirely to photographic exhibitions and also possesses a photo restoration laboratory and a large
library dedicated to the history of world photography. The museum also has an active policy of
seeking new acquisitions and has received many very valuable donations.
The Alinari firm thus has a wide-ranging commitment to photography, being not only the
custodian of a unique historical tradition and a heritage of 3,500,000 photographs, but also in the
forefront of the most advanced forms of digital image processing and classification, having now
developed a system of online consultation of its archives.
THE ARCHIVES
The Archives contain a vast heritage of portraits and documentary records of customs,
art, and Italian and European society from the second half of the nineteenth century to the
present day. They are the product of the photographic exhibitions organized by the Florentine
firm in a great many venues to document the history of Italy and Europe for the benefit of
scholars and other users, including those making the “Grand Tour”, as well as the uninterrupted
work of the famous Alinari photo parlour during the last century.
The “historical” collections of negatives, augmented between the wars by the Anderson, Brogi,
Chauffourier, Fiorentini and Mannelli collections, have been enriched in recent years through the
acquisition of famous archives on glass plates or black-and-white and colour films together with
other lesser known nineteenth- and twentieth-century collections – Wuiz, Michetti, Nunes Vais,
Mollino, Zannier, Balocchi, Lattuada and many others. Among the most remarkable acquisitions
are the complete Villani archives, covering the period from 1920 until 1980 in Bologna, where
they are still kept today. These archives form a vital link with the Alinari Archives, providing
what is now a complete documentary record of industrial history from the second half of the
nineteenth century to the present day.
In total, the Alinari Archives contain 550,000 glass plates and 1,150,000 negatives on
film, forming an inexhaustible source of images for exhibitions, books, television programmes
and other types of publication or for meeting the requests of academics and members of the
public.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC LIBRARY
The Alinari Photographic Library is one of the world’s largest iconographic and
photographic documentation centres and is a focus of visits by researchers, students and
specialists from around the world. Apart from its own collection of pictures, Alinari manages the
photographic archives of the Italian Touring Club (around 500,000 items), the Istituto Luce (over
1,000,000), the region of Umbria (30,000) and the Historical Archives of Ansaldo
(approximately 200,000), as well as being the exclusive Italian agent for the French Giraudon
archives (around 500,000) and a representative of the German Marburg archives (over
1,500,000), the English Bridgeman archives (approx. 70,000) and those of the Courtauld Institute
(around 2,700,000). It has therefore assembled a unique heritage of world photography.
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Since 1986, the Alinari Archives have resumed their photographic exhibitions, employing
the services of famous specialists under the supervision of George Tatge, technical director of
photography. They have also established links and an agreement with the Ministry for the
Heritage and Cultural Affairs for the organization of photographic exhibitions in national
museums and collections.
To make its images accessible to a wider public, Alinari has developed an online search
facility for its photographic archives, based on an iconographic classification system produced in
collaboration with the University of Florence. Alinari online can be used to search the 180,000
images selected from Alinari’s own archives and from those for which it acts as representative.
In addition to the Archives and Photographic Library collections, the Alinari heritage
includes:
THE MUSEUM
The essential task of the Fratelli Alinari Museum of Photographic History, which was
opened in 1985, is conservation. It houses around 700,000 vintage positive prints (produced with
albumin and bromide on sulphurized paper), daguerreotypes and stereoscopies. The museum has
acquired collections by Malandrini, Palazzoli, Gabba, Reteuna, Zannier and many others, as well
as original work by the greatest photographers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It boasts
large collections of cameras, lenses, postcards and other antique items linked to the world of
photography, including albums, frames and advertising artefacts from Italy and abroad, as well
as its incomparable specialist library.
Since 1985, the museum has held a series of exhibitions on three important themes: the
history of photography, semiology and monographs on contemporary authors. These exhibitions,
prepared by well-known experts, are staged at the museum itself and/or in other museums in
Italy and abroad.
CAMERAS AND COLLECTIONS OF FRAMES AND ALBUMS
The museum currently houses more than 1,000 cameras, lenses and devices relating to the
history of photography, which make up a substantial part of the collections. The museum –
including exhibits ranging from darkrooms for daguerreotypes to large wooden cameras with
bellows for making collodium plates, and from miniatures to exhibition-sized prints – documents
the history of photographic techniques from the early pioneers to the age of mass photography,
right up to small-format cameras, a sizeable number of which have their place in the
museum collections.
Mention should also be made of two other thematic collections, one devoted to photograph
frames and the other to albums, both being regarded as representative of that way of presenting
and preserving photographs serving to highlight the value and prestige that photographs were
acquiring over time.
The different enamels, ivory, silver and precious woods enrich the photographs kept in
these frames and albums, indirectly conferring on them an added dignity.
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THE LIBRARY
An integral part of the museum is the vast library specializing in the history of
photography from its origins to the modern era. It is one of Italy’s largest collections devoted to
photography and constitutes an indispensable tool for specialists.
Among the numerous important publications, monographs, treatises, historical manuals,
catalogues, etc., the library houses a collection of the main historical and contemporary
photography reviews, in particular a full collection of the Bollettino della Società Fotografica
Italiana (Bulletin of the Italian Photographic Society), published in Florence in 1889, the
prestigious Fotografia Artistica, published in Turin between 1904 and 1916, and a valuable and
rare complete collection of the Camera Work review, published in New York from 1903 to 1917
under the direction of Stieglitz. The collections also include the Biblioteca Fotografica
Malandrini with more than 5,200 titles devoted to the history of world photography. Virtually all
the most significant photographers are represented, by works published in their lifetime or by
more recent studies of their work.
4. Justification for inclusion/Assessment against criteria
4.3.a – Time:
A unique source of knowledge for the second half of the nineteenth century and the whole of the
twentieth century.
4.3.c – People:
Innumerable personalities are documented.
4.3.d – Subject and theme:
The documentation in question covers the most varied aspects of history from the nineteenth
through to the twentieth century, from rural and urban landscapes to industrialization processes,
from the development of communication links to modern communication networks, from art
photography to contemporary artistic movements.
4.3.e - Form and style:
The photographic heritage of the Fratelli Alinari is of outstanding importance, both in terms of
its value as a pictorial record of national and international history and as a heritage of great
artistic – and hence cultural – value, which must be safeguarded for the benefit of humanity as a
whole.
4.4 - Rarity:
The rarity of this unique heritage collection makes it essential to protect and preserve it so as to
transmit and disseminate the historical memory it embodies of artistic and social life not only in
Italy, but also worldwide.
The photographs are unique.
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Bibliography:
AA.VV., Gli Alinari fotografi a Firenze 1852-1920, Florence 1977
AA.VV., Fotografia italiana dell’800, Florence 1979
I. Zannier, Storia della Fotografia Italiana, Bari 1986
L. Tomassini, in AFT 6/7, 1987
Falzone del Barbarò, Das Italien der Alinari, Florence 1988
AA.VV., Alle origini della Fotografia: un itinerario toscano, Florence 1989
AA.VV., Per Paolo Costantini. Indagine sulle raccolte fotografiche, Centro di ricerche
informatiche per i Beni Culturali, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, 1999
Names and contact details of independent experts or organizations who could give an informed
opinion about the significance and provenance of the documentary heritage
Charles-Henri Favrod
Grant Romer
Michele Falzone del Barbarò
Comparative evaluation of documents, including assessment of the importance of a series of
documents, considered on their own and as part of a particular context, and evaluation in
relation to other items of documentary heritage:
The Alinari collections are among the most important photographic archives in the world,
notable for their very high technical and artistic standards and further enhanced by collections
that are essential to the history of photography.
5. Legal information
5.1 Owner (full name and contact details)
Fratelli Alinari I.D.E.A. S.p.A. – largo Fratelli Alinari 15 – 50123 FIRENZE, Italy. Company
representative: Comm. Claudio de Polo Saibanti. Head of administration: Rag. Leonardo Nepi
5.2 Custodian (full name and contact details)
5.3 Legal status
(a) category of ownership
Privately owned. Joint-stock company.
(b) details of legal and administrative provisions taken to ensure the preservation of
the documentary heritage
The Ministry for Heritage and Cultural Affairs officially recognized the
remarkable historical significance of the Alinari Archives under the terms of
Act 1.06.1939 No. 1089.
(c) accessibility
The photographic library is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to
Friday. The collections and photographic history library are accessible to the
public on request. The Alinari Archives will soon be consultable online.
(d) copyright :
All the photographs in the Archives are protected by copyright.
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5.4 Responsible administration
Fratelli Alinari I.D.E.A. S.p.A.
The Archives come under the supervision of Sovrintenda Archivistica per la Toscana.
6. Management plan - See Appendix 1
ALINARI ONLINE AND THE RESTORATION LABORATORY
Alinari has created an online search facility enabling users to consult a selection of some
180,000 images taken either from its own archives or from those represented by Fratelli Alinari.
This service, aimed at the worlds of business (publishers, agencies) and education (universities
worldwide) as well as private users, offers an image-searching facility using a classification
system organized into 60 primary categories comprising more than 7,000 subject headings. This
thesaurus, developed in collaboration with the University of Florence, covers all fields of
knowledge, from the figurative arts to the sciences, from history to industry, from landscapes to
astronomy and from show business to sport.
The originals contained in the museum are restored, photographed, digitized and added to
the complete database of historico-photographic and iconographic information so that users all
over the world can search the archives. As well as providing expert assessments of great
scientific value, the restoration laboratory, which began operating in 1996 under the terms of an
agreement with the Florence-based Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Institute of Semi-Precious
Stones), restores originals in need of attention using either traditional restoration techniques or
digital integration techniques for images that have become partly illegible. The laboratory also
provides specialist training and advice for public institutions and private individuals.
Appendix.
Investments:
1995 Lit 185,390,518
1996 Lit 399,378,841
1997 Lit 459,797,906
1998 Lit 402,373,318
1999 Lit 425,620,128
7. Consultation
7.1 Details of consultation carried out concerning the nomination:
(a) owner yes
(b) custodian
(c) regional or national Memory of the World committee (if
appropriate) yes
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PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8. Assessment of risk
Political situation: low risk.
Environment: normal.
Economic resources allocated to conservation: substantial, considering that the owner is a small
private company.
Extent and nature of access provided: risks implicit in any activity involving use for commercial
and publishing research.
9. Assessment of preservation
Physical state: very good.
Preservation history: see section 3.4.
Preservation procedures are satisfactory.
Risk forecasts correspond to Italian regulations.