National Alinari Museum of Photography

The National Alinari Museum of Photography, located in Florence, represents an essential reference point for photography and visual history enthusiasts. Founded in 1985 and initially housed in Palazzo Rucellai, the museum later moved to the complex of the Hospital of San Paolo in Piazza Santa Maria Novella. This historic building, dating back to the 13th century, provided a suggestive setting for one of the richest photographic collections in the world until its closure in 2014. The foundation of the museum is closely linked to the Alinari Brothers, an iconic name in the international photographic panorama. Founded in 1852, the Alinari studio played a crucial role in the visual documentation of the 19th and 20th centuries. The brothers Leopoldo, Giuseppe, and Romualdo Alinari began their work as photographers and printers, creating a vast archive of images covering a wide range of subjects, from urban landscapes to works of art, from portraits to historical events.The Alinari museum housed around 350,000 original positives of vintage prints, an invaluable treasure that included proto-photographs made with pioneering techniques such as albumen printing, bromide, salted paper, calotypes, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and stereoscopies. These now rare and historical techniques were the foundation of photography in its early decades and allowed for the preservation of crucial moments in history and art.The museum’s collections included works by important photographers of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Robert Anderson, Vincenzo Balocchi, Felice Beato, Alphonse Bernoud, Bill Brandt, Roger Fenton, Frédéric Flacheron, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Paul Graham, Carlo Mollino, Luciano Morpurgo, Mario Nunes Vais, and many others. The diversity and quality of the exhibited works reflected the evolution of photography as an art form and a documentation tool.The museum was not only an exhibition space but also a center for the preservation and restoration of original supports. The attention to the preservation of photographic material was one of the main missions of the museum, which was dedicated to ensuring the longevity of these visual testimonies through advanced conservation methods.One of the most fascinating aspects of the museum was its ability to transport visitors back in time, offering an in-depth look at the life and culture of past eras. The exhibited photographs provided a window into the past, allowing observers to see how Florence and other parts of the world were through the lens of photographers operating in an era without today’s advanced technology.In 2020, the Alinari collection was purchased by the Tuscany Region, which embarked on a project to revitalize the museum. This acquisition aims to ensure the continuity and enhancement of the Alinari heritage, with the goal of reopening the museum in a new location yet to be defined. The Tuscany Region is committed to preserving and promoting this extraordinary collection, ensuring that future generations can continue to enjoy this heritage.