Preekgestoelte in het Baptisterium te Pisa 1857 - 1914

This albumen print shows the pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery, and was created by Giorgio Sommer sometime in the mid-19th century. Sommer, a German photographer based in Italy, captured cultural landmarks, feeding into European desires for exotic travel imagery. Sommer's work intersects with the burgeoning tourist industry and the colonial gaze of the 19th century. The photograph aestheticizes the pulpit while maintaining a distance, reducing the complexities of religious and cultural identity to a picturesque scene. The pulpit itself, with its elaborate carvings and biblical scenes, speaks to the power and authority of the church, but Sommer's lens transforms it into a commodity, stripped of its original spiritual context. What do we make of how faith, art, and commerce intertwine and shape our understanding of cultural heritage? How does Sommer, as a foreigner, mediate our encounter with this sacred space?