Virtually no other European cultural landscape has stirred as much fascination in artists, writers and scholars over the past centuries as Mediterranean Italy. Its beautiful landscapes and rich cultural heritage enchanted travellers from north of the Alps, whose desires for a »better« life often led them to seek physical and spiritual healing there. With the invention and growing popularity of photography came a fundamental transformation in the understanding of Italy and its culture. The exhibition Bella Italia focuses on the changeable relationship between photography and painting in the 19th century and on the often stereotypical image of Italy held by Germans during that period, as passed down in countless travel reports.

The book accompanying the exhibition presents 210 original photographs
and paintings dating from 1815 to 1900. The paintings, from the Von der
Heydt Museum, were executed almost exclusively during the Late Romantic era, before 1840. The photographs were obtained from the private collection of Dietmar Siegert, the Photography Collection of the Munich City Museum and the collection of the Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal.

Link to Exhibition:
http://www.bella-italia-ausstellung.de/

Editor: Dietmar Siegert, Gerhard Finckh, Ulrich Pohlmann
Authors: Ulrich Pohlmann

Hardcover
24 x 30 cm
248 pages
211 color ills.
German
available
ISBN 978-3-86828-316-7
35 Euro
2012