Photographic Archive

The Photographic Archive consists of material relating to the activities carried out by former BSR Directors, Assistant Directors, and individuals who generously donated their own photographic collections to enrich and enhance the institution’s resources for academic research.

It covers many subjects including Italian and North African archaeology and topography, ancient Greek and Roman art, in particular sculpture, and European medieval and Renaissance art and architecture. Its extent totals nearly 100,000 items stored in 19 cupboards, including calotypes, glass negatives, nitrate and acetate negatives, early photographic prints, 35 mm film, postcards, slides and lantern slides.

The uniqueness of the BSR photographic holdings lies not only in the importance of the many and various collections which found their home in Rome throughout the years, but also in the nodes and relationships arising from their ownership and provenance. From the second half of the 19th Century with collections of master photographers and pioneering publishers – James Graham Collection (c. 1855), Robert MacPherson Collection (1854-1868), John-Henry Parker Collection (1865–79) – to the years marking the beginning of amateurial experiences – Peter Paul Mackey Collection (1890-1910), Thomas Ashby Collection (1890-1925), Dora & Agnes Bulwer Collection (1890-c.1930?), John William Cruickshank Collection (1892-1918), Robert Gardner Collection (1912-13).

Some of our photographic collections are also available through our Digital Collections website and the URBiS portal.