Three Italian Daguerreotypes to be displayed at the National Library of Scotland
2 May 2024
Three daguerreotypes from the Ruskin Whitehouse Collection will go on display at the National Library of Scotland in the ‘Images of Italy’ display.
16 May – 2 November 2024
The three daguerreotypes from the Collection depict Venice, Florence, and Pisa. The display will be open from 16 May to 2 November 2024, which includes the period of the Edinburgh Festival. ‘Images of Italy’ will include works and objects from the National Library of Scotland’s collection such as 15th-century woodcuts and 19th-century photography depicting Italy.
John Ruskin & John Hobbs, ‘Venice. St. Mark’s. Principal façade. South-west portico. Angled view’, 1850, 1996D0014 © The Ruskin, Lancaster University
John Ruskin & Le Cavalier Iller, ‘Florence. Panorama from the south’, 1845, 1996D0052 © The Ruskin, Lancaster University
John Ruskin, Le Cavalier Iller & John Hobbs, ‘Pisa. The Cathedral and leaning tower’, 1846, 1996D0057 © The Ruskin, Lancaster University
This exhibition explores how visual representations of Italy developed. These range from 15th-century woodcuts to 19th-century photography. Early book illustrators usually presented a highly idealised, almost mythical, view of the country. They focussed on magnificent Roman ruins, imposing Renaissance buildings, and beautiful rural scenes. The invention of photography in the 19th century provided a new way to record Italy. Drawing on The Ruskin’s collection of 125 of Ruskin’s daguerreotypes of Florence, Pisa and Venice, Sandra Kemp curated the section dedicated to Ruskin, alongside other Early photographers who continued the picturesque tradition of book illustrators.
The Ruskin and Lancaster University’s Innovation Team have been developing a Web Platform as part of ‘Images of Italy’, to provide more information about Ruskin’s daguerreotypes through a series of short films. This includes a link to a film produced by the V&A – ‘How is it made? The Daguerreotype‘.