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View from the French Academy at the Villa Medici

ca. 1852
Not on view
Trained at the Venetian Academy as a vedutista, a painter of perspectival city views, Caneva moved to Rome in 1838 and quickly distinguished himself amid an international group of artists who gathered at the famed Caffè Greco. As early as 1845, he appears on the café’s ledger as “Painter-Photographer,” having adopted the daguerreotype before mastering paper negatives. Caneva’s views of Roman monuments and figure studies of Italian peasants catered to the tastes of the artistic community that flourished in the neighborhood around the French Academy at the Villa Medici atop the Pincian hill. This view is from the villa’s fountain—which remains a popular spot for both artists and travelers ambling on an afternoon passeggiata—toward Michelangelo’s dome of Saint Peter’s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: View from the French Academy at the Villa Medici
  • Artist: Giacomo Caneva (Italian, 1812–1865)
  • Date: ca. 1852
  • Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
  • Dimensions: Image: 20 × 27.2 cm (7 7/8 × 10 11/16 in.)
    Mount: 31 × 46.2 cm (12 3/16 × 18 3/16 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.100.855
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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[Tree in Formal Garden Outside Palazzo], Giacomo Caneva Italian, Albumen silver print from glass negative
[Tree in Formal Garden Outside Palazzo]
Giacomo Caneva
1860s–70s
[Roman Ruins], Giacomo Caneva Italian, Albumen silver print
[Roman Ruins]
Giacomo Caneva
1860s
[Vesuvius from Mergellina], Giacomo Caneva Italian, Salted paper print from paper negative
[Vesuvius from Mergellina]
Giacomo Caneva
ca. 1855
[Carlotta Cortudino], Giacomo Caneva Italian, Salted paper print from paper negative
[Carlotta Cortudino]
Giacomo Caneva
ca. 1852
[Stairs], Giacomo Caneva Italian, Salted paper print from paper negative
[Stairs]
Giacomo Caneva
1850s

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