Subject
Photograph by Pompeo Molins, dated 1870. In the foreground we see the so-called Arch of Drusus, which still stands today near “Porta Appia” or “Porta San Sebastiano”, the monumental entrance of the Regina viarum as it arrives in the Capital. This is one of the best-preserved city gates, which owes its current name to the nearby Basilica of San Sebastiano. In Molins’ “action view”, two uniformed men look toward the camera: one standing towards image centre, another sitting on the left with a tired air. A third figure turns his back to the camera as he gazes towards the Appia Antica and the Roman countryside beyond. These could be gendarmes on duty at the guard stations of the gate, perhaps identifiable as Savoyards and so dating the scene after the taking of Porta Pia, or tax officers on duty at the customs house – where a cart is seen parked. Until the demolition of this structure in the early 1900s, it was precisely the presence of the duty officers in the piazza of Porta San Sebastiano that rendered it a very lively place, frequented by travellers, soldiers and merchants.

Accession number 5972 – Fototeca Unione
Albumen print
1870

Placement
American Academy Rome

Credits
American Academy Rome, Fondo Unione – 5972

Stampa scheda

Subject
The Mausoleum of Sant’Urbano in a negative of the late 1800s from the collection of the famous British archaeologist Thomas Ashby. It was in these years that the land where the tomb stood was purchased by the Lugari brothers, who carried out a series of excavation campaigns between 1880 and 1895. The image shows the rear apsidal part of the tomb and two figures sitting on the kerbs at either side of the road, paved in stone. The figure on the left is identified as Rodolfo Lanciani, while the identification of the woman on the right is uncertain: since the American archaeologist Ester Boise van Deman did not arrive in Rome until a few years later, this may be one of the two Bulwer sisters, Agnes or Dora Ellinor, both skilled photographers.

Ashby Collection Accession number – TA[PHP]-0391
Gelatin silver salt negative
1895 (January)

Placement
British School at Rome

Credits
British School at Roma (BSR), Ashby Collection – TA[PHP]-0391

Stampa scheda