Exterieur van de Sint-Laurensbasiliek te Florence before 1888

This albumen print of the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence was created by the Italian photography firm Fratelli Alinari. Produced sometime in the late 19th century, it’s a reminder of the changing role of religious institutions in Western Europe. Note how the church is presented not as a site of worship or a symbol of spiritual authority, but as a monument, an object of aesthetic contemplation, and an economic asset. Alinari mass-produced photographs of Italian landmarks that could be sold as souvenirs to tourists. Consider how the photograph flattens the Basilica’s visual complexity, emphasizing its geometrical patterns rather than its symbolic details. In this, we see how photography contributed to a broader shift in cultural values, one that emphasized secularization and commodification. To understand this artwork, we might consult sources from the Alinari archives, tourist guides from the period, and social histories of Florence to better understand the cultural and economic forces at play. These resources help us to interpret the meaning of art as something contingent on social and institutional context.