Florence_ Michelangelo’s Unfinished Apollo in the Galleria degli Uffizi c. 1868 - 1870
albumen-print, paper, photography, sculpture, albumen-print
albumen-print
portrait
sculpture
classical-realism
paper
photography
ancient-mediterranean
sculpture
albumen-print
realism
This photograph by Adolphe Braun captures Michelangelo’s unfinished Apollo in the Galleria degli Uffizi. Michelangelo, a master of marble carving, employed a subtractive process, carefully removing stone to reveal the figure within. In this image, the rough texture of the unfinished marble shows the physicality of the artist's process and its inherent challenges. Consider the labor involved: quarrying the stone, transporting it, and the sheer physical effort of sculpting. Michelangelo's skill transformed raw material into a form of human beauty. This photograph allows us to appreciate both the artistry and the immense work involved in sculpting marble, blurring the lines between fine art and the skilled crafts essential to its creation.
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Trade with photographs became an established business sector between 1850 and 1880. Nearly all large photographystudios of the second half of the nineteenth century offered views of well-known edifices, but also photographicreproductions of artworks. Adolphe Braun from Dornach in Alsace recorded Europe’s most well-known art collections photographically. A savvy businessman, he marketed his photos to an international clientele by way of a catalogue. The first verifiable communication between Braun and the Städelsches Kunstinstitut came about in 1869. Among the acquisitions up to the year 1871 were more than 202 photographs of primarily Italian artworks, including examples by Raphael, Michelangelo, and Andrea Mantegna.
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