The Photographic Archive
The Photographic Archive now hosts more than 500,000 shots between positives and negatives.
Establishing the archive
The Photographic Archive of the Malatesta Library was born in the ’80s, when photography started to be recognized as a status of cultural heritage as, at the beginning of the century, Corrado Ricci always desired, pointing at the importance of the photographic image, as an irreplaceable instrument for historical research.
Montetiffi (1927) by Francesco DellamoreComune di Cesena
F. Dellamore. Montetiffi, Sogliano al Rubicone: a municipal house of the 15th century XV, 1927. Jelly on glass. FDP 337.
Images as a tool for historic research
The document that sets the birth of the archive specifies the documentary value of the photographs beyond any aesthetic considerations: «It is about preserving not “beautiful photographs”, but images that are a "document", a "testimony", such as books or a paintings. »
The tower of Roversano (1924) by Francesco DellamoreComune di Cesena
F. Dellamore. Roversano: the tower seen from the castle gate, 1924. Gelatin in development. FDP 0254.
Roncofreddo's northern gate (1927) by Francesco DellamoreComune di Cesena
F. Dellamore. Roncofreddo, the north gate, demolished after the end of the last war, 1927. Gelatin in development. FDP 0370.
The first acquisitions
The first collections consist in negatives on glass plates documenting the history of Cesena from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century.
Foro AnnonarioComune di Cesena
A. Casalboni. Cesena, the Annonario Forum as it was before the demolition, 1901. Jelly on glass. FCP 061.
Cesena, a shop from the early 1900s (1920) by Augusto CasalboniComune di Cesena
A. Casalboni. Cesena, Cesenate Consumer Cooperative. The photo dates back to the years after 1916, when electric light was brought to the city. Jelly on glass. FCP 009.
Sports, travel and holidays
The latter also show particular scenes of daily life, like sport competitions, travels and holidays.
Coppa Dino Montanari (1925) by Francesco DellamoreComune di Cesena
F. Dellamore. First Dino Montanari Cup, April 26, 1925: the group of runners immediately after the start. Gelatin in development. FDP 1577.
MountainComune di Cesena
G. Brasa. En route to the Rolle Pass, in the early 1900s. Jelly on glass. BRN 0272.
Piazzale degli Uffizi (1900) by Agostino Lelli MamiComune di Cesena
A. Lelli Mami. La Lelli Mami, an altolocata family from Cesena, travelling to Florence, in the Piazzale degli Uffizi 1900-1905. Jelly on glass. LMP 0027.
Emma Albani (1872) by NadarComune di Cesena
Of course, portraiture is widely represented and there are several photographs of man, women, children, and groups.
Group portrait (1890) by Studio fotografico G. De Giuli & C.Comune di Cesena
Photo Studio G. De Giuli & C. Portrait of three gentlemen reading the paper, 1900. albumin. RRP 383.
Marriage (1890) by Josef MeningerComune di Cesena
J. Meninger. Photo of wedding, 1900. RRP 418.
Images from the World war
Particular importance is reserved to a fund that collects the images of soldiers from Cesena fallen during first world war, often accompanied by letters and postcards sent from the front.
Salvatore Aguselli (1915) by unknownComune di Cesena
One of the many photos of Cesena soldiers who fell during the First World War, 1915-1918. Gelatin in development. 1GM 003.
Photographic art
Although the Archive had mainly a documentary purpose, over the years it has gradually expanded and enriched thanks to many donations. For so, it also conserves photographs born with artistic intent.
Razza Romagnola (1930) by Alessandro AlmericiComune di Cesena
Some of them object of exhibitions or award winners or simply witnesses of the aesthetic evolution of photography - but also documentation of particular photographic currents that go as far as abstractionism.
Carabinieri (1950) by Alessandro AlmericiComune di Cesena
We remember, for example, the shots of the Marquis Alessandro Almerici, a noble of Cesena with a great passion for photography
Young Couple (1950) by Alessandro AlmericiComune di Cesena
Almerici's gaze spans the whole range of possibilities that the amateur practice of photography can offer at the highest level, bringing out a constant character and a personal style made of elegance and cleanliness of composition, balance of tones, rejection of banality and excess.
Romance (1930) by Alessandro AlmericiComune di Cesena
A seemingly simple style without evolution, which instead expresses a rigorous aesthetic research aimed at painting rather than narration.
Reflections (1960) by Romolo SavoiaComune di Cesena
Aesthetic research is also the basis of other funds that document particularphotographic currents that go as far as abstractionism.
Establishing the history of photography
The photographic Archive collects the works of many non-professional photographers who, as enthusiasts as they were, have also collected a large number of historical timepieces, rightfully entering in the collections of the library and establishing a true "history of photography".
Christus Consolator (Unknown) by UnknownComune di Cesena
Christus Consolator, reproduction of an engraving from 1862. Although the photo portrays a print, its historical importance is undeniable, it is in fact a daguerreotype, that is, an image obtained through the first process for photographic development. daguerreotype. RRP 0748.
Garden (1870) by unknownComune di Cesena
An ambrotype, that is, a negative on glass that is made "positive" by applying a paint or dark fabric on the back. Often the ambrotypes are inserted in a case or, as in this case, enclosed in a frame, 1855-1865. Ambrotype. RRP 758.
Family Group (1870) by unknownComune di Cesena
A metal print, often used by street photographers, 1855-1865. Ferrotype. RRP 755.
Enriching the collection
The donations have practically never stopped, the collection is now enriched by contemporary funds, but which in short time will become an integral part of the historical funds of the Malatesta Library.
Cesena, two doors. (1990) by Remo BacchiComune di Cesena
R. Bacchi. The large photographic fund donated to the Malatestiana by Remo Bacchi contains, among other things, three great albums entitled "Andar per porte e portoni", which contain a really large number of doors in Cesena, 1990. Gelatin in development. FBP 13695.
Giorgia Ferrani, Università di Bologna;
Mariasole Lega, Assesorato alla cultura;
Carla Rosetti, Biblioteca Malatestiana;
Jessica Muka, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo";
Alice Montalti, Università di Bologna
