Gezicht op het portaal van de San Petronio in Bologna c. 1870 - 1890

Curator: Here, we have an exquisite gelatin-silver print from somewhere between 1870 and 1890, titled "Gezicht op het portaal van de San Petronio in Bologna," captured by the photographer R. Peli. Editor: My first thought is of enormous weight, and stillness. All that stone, all that history…it's like time has solidified. Do you feel it? That feeling of something ancient watching you? Curator: Certainly. The photograph's composition guides our gaze directly to the entrance. Note the sharp lines of the architecture. It seems to embrace a certain formal balance; one that is reflected, notably, in academic art, wouldn't you say? Editor: Totally. I feel this sense of geometric patterns within the façade itself – circles and triangles. It's architectural semiotics! But, in a whimsical turn, it whispers of faded dreams of Orientalism, no? Did the photograph have a certain intent behind it or does it simply attempt to offer an image? Curator: Peli focuses, quite realistically, on documenting the architectural features, with every carved detail crisply rendered. The light creates stark contrasts in texture, adding layers of depth to each carving, and allowing it to be more easily discerned, which reinforces this view. The texture, the materiality… it creates meaning. Editor: It is striking how well we can note texture within what may be a simple structure to most eyes. What narrative could it present to those seeing it at the time or today? It's strange. I do get this feeling of walking the same roads as the folks who once wandered within! It almost feels haunted! Curator: Haunted maybe is the incorrect word… I feel it captures a particular cultural moment, a tangible record of a magnificent city, even then, existing in a space between the Renaissance past and a rapidly modernizing world. The photographer’s skill preserves this transition, if only for a brief instant. Editor: And that captured instant continues to breathe! Curator: Indeed, something profound about seeing a sliver of history in such stark photographic clarity.