Battery no.9, from Souvenirs d’Italie: Expédition de Rome 1859

Auguste Raffet created this print, "Battery no.9, from Souvenirs d’Italie: Expédition de Rome," using lithography, a printing process that transfers images from stone to paper. The print captures a scene of military action, focusing on the operation of a cannon battery. The material quality of lithography, with its fine lines and tonal range, allows for detailed depictions of the soldiers, the cannons, and the rough texture of the fortifications. Consider how the industrial revolution influenced military technology, and the labor involved in both war and its representation. Raffet’s print exists because of advances in printing that democratized image production. In this light, the print itself becomes an artifact of its time, reflecting both the romanticism of military campaigns and the industrial processes that made such imagery widely accessible. It blurs the lines between documentation, art, and propaganda, reminding us of the complex relationship between conflict, labor, and visual culture.