Fotoreproductie van (vermoedeijk) een prent van het Teatro San Carlo in Napels c. 1865 - 1875

Giorgio Sommer created this reproduction of a print of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples sometime in the 19th century. Sommer, a German photographer based in Italy, captured this image during a period of significant cultural and political change. The Teatro San Carlo, one of Europe's oldest and most prestigious opera houses, was a stage for the performance of identity and power. In this photograph, the theater’s architecture and the audience within it reflect the rigid social hierarchies of the time. Notice how the seating is arranged, with boxes for the elite and a general area for the masses, reinforcing divisions of class and status. The act of reproducing this image through photography speaks to the medium's emerging role in democratizing access to cultural heritage, even as the theater itself remained a space of social exclusivity. This photograph serves as a poignant reminder of the complex interplay between art, identity, and social structure.