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MACPHERSON, ROBERT
when new theories about the properties and composi-
tion of sub-atomic particles have revived interest in his
concepts.
See also: Le Gray, Gustave.
Further Reading
Blackmore, John T., Ernst Mach, His Work, Life, and Infl uence,
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.
Bron, Pierre, and Philip L. Condax, The Photographic Flash,
a Concise Illustrated History, Zürich: Bron Elektronik AG,
1998.
Mach, Ernst, “Über wissenschaftliche Anwendungen der
Photographie und Stereoskopie” [“On the Scientifi c Uses
of Photography and Stereoscopy”], in E. Mach, Po p u l ä r-
Wissenschaftliche Vorlesungen, Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius
Barth, 1903.
Mach, E., and Salcher, P., “Photographische Fixirung der durch
projectile in der Luft eingeleiteten Vorgänge” [“The Photo-
graphic Recording of the Processes Initiated by a Projectile
Travelling in the Air”], in G. Wiedemann, ed., Annalen
der Physik und Chemie [Annals of Physics and Chemistry]
(Leipzig) Vol. XXXII (N. F.), 277–291.
Volkmer, Ottomar, Die photographishe Aufnahme von Unsich-
tbarem [Photographing the Invisible], Halle a. S.: Wilhelm
Knapp, 1894.
MACKEY, FATHER PETER PAUL
(1851–1935)
English-born amateur photographer
Father Mackey epitomises the private photographer:
a learned scholar who knew the relevance of what he
was looking for and at; precise, as befi ts the “age of the
tripod,” technically expert, poetic, he had a great love
of architecture. A tireless walker, he made excursions
throughout Italy, and to Sardinia and Greece, c.1884–
1902, and because he travelled off the souvenir routes, he
photographed many places not covered by commercial
photographers. His depictions of the nuraghe in Sardinia
are the earliest in existence. Equally rare is his record of
the natural life of the Italian countryside, a subject not
recognised by the professionals. Rarer still is the way
he portrays the world for it is seen through the eyes of a
Dominican priest who should not have been so interested
in transitory, worldly things; self-portraits depict him
deep in poetic thought in his fl owing habit amidst pagan,
classical ruins. Born Erdington, Birmingham, Daniel
Mackey studied law (1869–1871) then the priesthood at
Woodchester where, after becoming a Lector in Sacred
Theology at Louvain in 1874, he taught philosophy and
canon law until summoned to Rome in 1881 as editor
of the Leonine edition of the works of St Thomas Aqui-
nas which he continued for the rest of his life. He also
associated with artists, such as Rodin, art dealers and
collectors. He presented his photographic albums to the
British and American Archeological Society of Rome
(one remains). He gave to the British School at Rome
c.1913 his negatives (now lost) and nearly 2000 prints,
together with a detailed catalogue, which remained
forgotten until 1999. They are now of great interest.
Alistair CrawfordMACPHERSON, ROBERT (1814–1872)
Scottish photographer who specialised in
photographs of Roman architecture and antiquities
together with topographical viewsFor approximately fi fteen years, from c.1851 to c.1866,
Robert Turnbull MacPherson was one of the most
sought after photographers working in Rome. From the
mid 1850s, John Murray began to publish favourable
notices of MacPherson in his popular guidebooks and
by the time of the 1858 edition, he was named as one of
the principal photographic artists working in that city.
MacPherson had relocated to Rome from Scotland in
c.1840. His specialised in large format albumen prints.
His preferred subjects were architecture, works of art
and in particular sculpture, together with topography.
These subjects found a quick and ready market with the
international tourists that Rome attracted. MacPherson
photographed elsewhere in Italy including Venice, Peru-
gia and Assissi but it for his photographs taken in Rome
and the surrounding Campagna that he is best known.
Born in Scotland in 1814, Robert MacPherson stud-
ied medicine at Edinburgh University to qualify as a
surgeon. However his medical practice was short-lived
as he became increasingly interested in art. He relocated
to Rome in c.1840 and established himself as a painter.
In the early 1840s he also started a business as an art
dealer, although to what extent this was carried out on
a regular basis remains unclear. In 1849 he married
Geraldine Bate, a niece of the art connoisseur Anna
Jameson. From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s recollections
of visiting her palazzo in 1858, it is also known that
Jameson collected art. MacPherson appears to have had
a strained relationship with his wife’s aunt, so the ques-
tion of to what extent, if any, Jameson introduced him
to any of the distinguished members of her circle, such
as the Goethe family, remains unresolved. However it
might be signifi cant that Macpherson included a citation
from Goethe on the title page of his handbook to the
Vatican Sculptures in 1863. Aside from any connections
that Jameson’s may have provided, MacPherson had
his own very mixed circle of friends and acquaintances
including George Combe, a co-founder of the Edinburgh
Phrenological Society in 1820 and who conversed with
MacPherson about sculpture, and the Scottish novelist
Margaret Oliphant who referred affectionately to both
Robert and Geraldine in her autobiography.
MacPherson appears to have abandoned painting in