Pisa_ The Leaning Tower c. 1855
enricovanlint1
stadelmuseum
cardboard, albumen-print, paper, architecture
cardboard
albumen-print
aged paper
toned paper
light pencil work
16_19th-century
ink paper printed
paper
personal sketchbook
ink colored
sketchbook drawing
watercolour illustration
italy
sketchbook art
watercolor
architecture
building
This 1855 photograph by Enrico Van Lint depicts the Leaning Tower of Pisa, one of Italy's most recognizable landmarks. The image, currently housed at the Städel Museum, captures the tower's distinctive tilt, making it a popular subject for both tourists and artists throughout history. Van Lint's meticulous detail reveals the intricate architecture of the tower and its surroundings, creating a timeless document of this iconic structure.
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To this day, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most photographed sights in Italy. In the 1850s, the trained sculptor Enrico Van Lint repeatedly photographed the tower and the other buildings on the Cathedral Square from different perspectives. Under good weather conditions, the exposure times ranged between 20 seconds and 7 minutes, on overcast days up to 18 minutes. In the second half of the nineteenth century—long before the invention of the picture postcard—travellers to Italy could purchase the small-scale prints as souvenirs. This view by Enrico Van Lint is one of the oldest objects in the Städel Museum’s ancient photography collection which, like the photo itself, dates back to around 1850.
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