About This Image

Titled in pencil, possibly in the artist\'s hand on the recto of the paper mount, since it matches the same handwriting on another copy of this image in the Bibliotheque Nationale Francaise in an album of Caneva\'s and Antonio Perini\'s work.

Giacomo Caneva (July 4, 1813, Padua - March 29, 1865, Rome) was a Roman photographer, painter and illustrator. He was the first Italian photographer who photographed on paper and whose images were preserved.

Caneva is known for his detailed depictions of Roman monuments and wide, romantic landscapes of the surrounding countryside (including Tivoli, Subiaco, Castelli Romano, and Civitavecchia ). Of particular importance are his numerous photographs of Campagna Romano farms, cottages, towers, Roman aqueducts and ruins. But he also produced images of rocks and trees for sale as models for artists.

He studied at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts (Accademia della Bella Arte) and in 1838 as a lithograph, painter and illustrator in Rome. He was first mentioned in the Caffé Grego in 1845 as a painter-photographer. His vision of the Vestal Temple in 1847 is the oldest paper photograph produced by a Roman photographer. In 1847 he flew by a hot air balloon over Rome. From 1850 he was a member of Circolo Fotografico Romano (also known as Scuola Romana di Fotografia). Later he was a professional photographer and topographer. In 1859, he participated in an exploration trip to India and China designed to document textile production, but also to find silkworm eggs.

The Arch of Constantine is located right next to the Colosseum. The Senate built this arch in 315 A.D. to honor Constantine\'s defeat of the pagan Maxentius. Many of the sculptural work on this arch have nothing to do with Constantine, but were taken from other long-forgotten memorials.

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