Fotoreproductie van een schets door Michelangelo, voorstellende een figuur met een putto c. 1875 - 1900

This photograph of a drawing by Michelangelo was made by Carlo Naya, in the 19th century. Naya was a master of his medium, employing light and shadow to convey not only the form of the original drawing, but also its texture. Consider the labor involved in producing photographs in Naya's time. Each print was a meticulous performance of darkroom chemistry and expert timing. The final product was something of a miracle, an alchemical transformation of materials. Note that in reproducing Michelangelo's sketch, Naya isn’t just documenting it. He’s also turning it into a commodity, a collectible item for the burgeoning tourist trade in Italy. The photograph, through its inherent capacity for reproduction, democratizes art, making Michelangelo's genius accessible to a wider audience, far beyond the elite circles who could view the original drawing. In this way, Naya’s image bridges the gap between art and commerce, inviting us to consider how value is created and disseminated in a rapidly changing world.