Attraverso la luce
The first twenty years of photography in the library’s collections
curated by Monica Leoni and Elisabeth Sciarretta with Laura Gasparini
24 April – 5 July

The exhibition staged by the Panizzi Library brings together photographs, documents and engravings from the first twenty years of the history of photography contained in the photographic archive’s collections; the library acquired these items through donations and acquisitions, and they have been preserved to document the history of photographic techniques.
The magic of light has been the subject of important scientific studies for centuries, but it has also fascinated the world of art, and subsequently popular culture. Photography, a product of various historical processes, represents a chapter in the annals of visual history, intricately linked with the disciplines of art, science and technology. The common thread that binds these fields together is their shared curiosity and passion for the advent of a new and enthralling language.
The exhibition is structured along chronological lines, showcasing a curated selection of rare photographs on salted paper, along with a notable set of daguerreotypes from the Mandarino and Davoli collections, and the distinguished Michael G. Jacob collection, recently augmented through a significant donation from the esteemed collector. A significant section of the exhibition is dedicated to the preservation cases that house these invaluable artefacts.
The exhibition will also include documents that bear witness to the dissemination of photography in the Estense dukedom, where this new technology arrived only a few years after the first image captured by a Daguerreotype machine was presented by L.J.M. Daguerre to the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1839.
The story of the exhibition provides a historical perspective, guiding visitors through the pioneering years of scientific experimentation involving light, chemistry and the transformation of materials such as silver, culminating in the art of portraiture and landscape photography.