N. 198 Palermo, Orto Botanico - Dettaglio c. 1893 - 1903

Giuseppe Incorpora made this photograph of the Palermo Botanical Garden in the late nineteenth century, a period of great change in Italy. Incorpora's photograph invites us to consider the role of botanical gardens during this period. These gardens were not merely places of leisure; they also served as sites of scientific study, places that reflected and reinforced colonial power, as the plants they contained were brought from all over the world, often without the consent of the countries from which they were taken. In fact, the Palermo Botanical Garden played a key role in introducing exotic plant species to Sicily, a legacy of the island’s complex history. This history included being colonized by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Normans, and Spaniards, each of whom had left an indelible mark on the island's cultural and botanical landscape. By studying photographs like this one, alongside historical documents and scientific records, we can gain a deeper understanding of the social, political, and economic forces that shaped not only artistic production but also the natural world around us.