Photography Period Francesco Maria Chiapella Titian Mauro Gabriel XIX Torino

Francesco Maria Chiapella (Turin, 19th century) - Vintage photography 

Period: 1863-1868 

Subject: engraving of a work by Titian "Adoration of Baby Jesus" 

Engraver: Mauro Gandolfi (1764-1834) 

Photograph size: 35 x 25 cm 

Contemporary wooden frame 50 x 38 cm 

Work well preserved, some woodworm holes in both the photograph and the frame. I refer you to the photo gallery. 

CHIAPELLA Francesco Maria: Professional photographer, active in the second half of the 19th century in Turin. The few documents concerning it date back to 1858, the period in which it is attested in via Chiesa 8, but from the back of its images and the subjects depicted it appears to have already been operating since the early 1850s. From 1861 to 1864 his studio was located in via San Massimo 9. Awarded the bronze medal at the National Exhibition of Turin in 1858 for views, portraits and reproductions of paintings. In 1860 he was mentioned in an article in the "Gazzetta Piemontese" which praised the invention of photography and told of a visit to a photographic studio, that of Chiapella, considered, at that date, one of the most prestigious in Turin; again from the same article it appears that the images of him were published in the Parisian magazine "Monde illustré". Three years later he created reproductions of works of art for the gift album of the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti of Turin. Between 1863 and 1868 he created numerous reproductions of contemporary works of art with which, thanks to the photoengraving technique, he created some volumes edited by Luigi Rocca, thus entering into a practice of disseminating images of very popular works of art throughout Europe at the time. In 1864 in the "Gazzetta del Popolo" he denied the paternity of the invention of lithophotography, although he admitted having contributed by making some modifications. In 1865 he was with Tuminello at the Photographic Exhibition in Dublin. From the back of the photos he appears to be the photographer of His Majesty the King of Italy. In 1865 he was succeeded by Olinto Zacchia.