Thanks to Strategia Fotografia 2024, a precious photo album and documents by Alinari and Brogi have been added to the Alinari Archives

Fondazione Alinari won the Strategia Fotografia 2024 call, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture with the project "Acquisition of photographic material relating to the origins of the Alinari Archives".

The project involved acquiring photographic materials important to the historical identity of the Alinari Archives. These materials were not acquired by the Tuscany Region in 2019 from the F.lli Alinari IDEA spa company, as they were owned by the De Polo Saibanti family. These assets originate from the Ferruccio Malandrini collection, some of which is held by the Alinari Archives.

A valuable photo album which contains 81 prints, including 25 vintage prints dating back to the period when the Alinari brothers collaborated with the engraver Luigi Bardi (1852–1863) was acquired. The prints are of an exceptional quality and have been remarkably well preserved. The album also contains 14 MacPherson prints of Rome, Umbria and Tivoli, as well as a wonderful photo by Bisson Frères and some reproductions of English works of art and architecture. Alongside the album, documents and photographs of the Alinari brothers were acquired, covering the period from their origins to the early 1900s. Also acquired was a small collection of documents from the Giacomo Brogi establishment, which is already part of the heritage managed by the Foundation.

The motivation behind the purchase was to reunite materials closely connected to the Alinari Archives heritage that had become public and managed by the Foundation, with the aim of enriching it and preventing the dispersion of elements relevant to its historical identity.

In autumn 2025, the Foundation will organise a conference to present the valuable materials acquired and will publish the photo album, which will be fully digitised, on its website.


→ The project is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2024, promotd by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.