Siena: Piazza del Campo, ca. 1870

About the Work

The highly frequented Piazza del Campo seems eerily vacant. On the left there are two figures that can scarcely be made out. Presumably they were the only ones to keep still for long enough; the photo plates’ low sensitivity to light required a long exposure time, which made it impossible to record objects in motion. The Alinari brothers soon sought to make the most of what photography made technologically possible – hence the various distances can be made out in detail. In the 19th century the family business was one of the most successful in Italy. As a publishing house it still survives today.