375
for a rich clientele. In that he obtained the fotografi co
pontifi co then he would have had full approval for all
his endeavours by the Vatican who no doubt could see
the importance of photography, not least as a means of
communicating propaganda to its citizens: what better
than to have a trained priest to run it? Since he remained
unmarried, one could assume he did not forgo his call-
ing. It is the much more likely therefore that the poli-
tics of the Vatican had a role to play in D’Allesandri’s
business from the very beginning and much control
throughout, for it was always strong on censorship of
all the arts, including what its citizens were reading and
viewing. One incident brought his name momentarily
into scandal when a fake (montage) nude photograph
of Mario Sofi a, the former Queen of Naples, who fl ed
to Rome in 1862, was circulated and ‘a priest’ was ac-
cused. During the investigation, another priest, Filippo
Bottoni, was sent to jail when he was found to have a
hoard of pornographic photographs which he had been
supplying for sale.
Father Antonio D’Alessandri, born L’Aquila, took
up an interest in photography while at l’Università
Romana in 1852 when he also appears to have made
frequent visits to the nearby photographic studio of the
Luswergh family (Angelo 1793–1858, father and sons
Giacomo 1819–1891 and Thommaso 1823–1907), the
fi rst Italian studio to produce a catalogue in 1855 (of
131 entries of views and portraits). With the coming of
the prospects of much money to be made on the arrival
of the albumen and glass plate negative, post 1851,
D’Alessandri joined the many and opened a studio
in Rome in 1856 in Via del Babuino 65 (until 1865),
then at Via del Corso 10–12, and, after his death, the
family business moved to 61–63, with his nephew Tito
in charge and where they could boast a terrace where
group portraits of up to 200 people could be taken.
Antonio worked with his brother, Paolo Francesco,
who was an excellent photographer in his own right
(and is often overlooked). Eventually Paolo’s children,
Alessandro (1862–1941), Tito (1864–1942), Cesere
(1871–1933), and Mario (1874–1943) also worked in
the company with Tito becoming an especially able
photographer and main director. Such was the success
of the enterprise that Fratelli D’Alessandri, in collabo-
ration with Giacomo Arena, opened in Naples at Via
della Pace 7, and had distribution facilities in Paris and
Vienna. Antonio became an honoured member of the
Société Française de Photographie in 1859 and a friend
of Nadar. Between 1860–1880, when they were at their
most successful, the company employed over 20, in-
cluding all family members, male and female. Fratelli
D’Alessandri exhibited in the major international ex-
hibitions of industry and photography mostly portraits
of the great and the good but also with some Vedute di
Roma: Florence 1861, Rome 1870 (gold medal) with
40 photographs depicting living bishops along with a
portrait of the Pope, Paris 1878 (gold medal) with views
of Rome, Milan 1881 (bronze medal) with a series of
hand coloured portraits for which they had become
well known, Turin 1884 exhibited interior shots of the
Palazzo del Quirinale, and Rome 1890 (gold medal).
Paolo’s children all died in 1942/1943 but the fi rm
managed to last until 1950.
Alistair Crawford
See also: War Photography.Further Reading
Becchetti, Piero, Roma nelle fotografi e dei fratelli D’Alessandri
1858–1930, Editore Colombo, Rome, 1996.
——, La fotografi a a Roma dalle origini al 1915, Editore Co-
lombo, Rome, 1983.
Crawford, Alistair, ‘Robert MacPherson 1814–72, the foremost
photographer of Rome’ Papers of the British School at Rome,
Volume LXVII, 1999, pp. 353–403.DALLEMAGNE, ADOLPHE JEAN
FRANÇOIS MARIN (B. 1811)
Adolphe Jean François Marin Dallemagne was fi rst a
painter and then a photographer. Born in 1811, near
Paris, he learned how to paint from Ingres (1780–1867),
Léon Cogniet (1794–1880) and Raimond Quinsac Mon-
voisin (1794–1870), all in the neoclassical style. Ac-
cording to Nadar, in his autobiography, “Quand j’étais
photographe,” he began his practice under the infl uence
of his friend, another painter, Hippolyte Lazerges (1817–
1887). Dallemagne’s studio was located at 9 avenue de
Ségur and in this studio, Dallemagne created his main
piece which was the Galerie des artistes contemporains.
This consisted of photographs of better known artists
of the day like the writer Henri Monnier, the painter
Frédéric O’Connel, and of Edouard Manet too.
Dallemagne worked with models as well which were
photographed with items making obvious Dallemagne’s
allusions to certain occupations. These images appeared
in different painting frames from the time periods and
styles of Louis XIV, Louis XV or Louis XVI’s, complete
with a theatrical velvet curtain.
During this time, photography copied paintings and
often looked for acknowledgment in it. Dallemagne also
displayed his photographs during several exhibitions of
the Société française de Photographie in the years 1863,
1864, 1865, and 1870. Later, the images appearing in
these shows were distributed by Nadar’s studio.
The painter kept his photographic studio until 1872,
after which little is known including the year in which
he passed.
Marion Perceval