ERITREA - LUIGI NARETTI 1859-1922 - Lot 130

ERITREA - LUIGI NARETTI 1859-1922 Album belonging to the Governor of Eritrea Ferdinando Martini (1841-1928) featuring views of Eritrea taken during the Italian occupation of the country, including some by Luigi Naretti, 1890-1908. Photographs. Album comprising around 370 prints, of which 315 silver and 55 citrate. Equestrian portrait of Ras Mangasha; Asmara: troop commander's palace, Rome Square: Bank of Italy, cattle market, Baldissera fort, caravanserai, men in front of the mosque; Keren fort, Italians in arms and Eritreans in front of the Catholic mission buildings, camel caravan in front of a village, man standing near the ruins of Colloe, settlers and locals posing on donkeys, railroad construction, Massaoua port, colonial house, Gli Aguzen, Grévy zebra, giraffes, Danakil men and women, Sultan Rahayta's soldiers, women in traditional dress, harp player, Abyssinians weaving, writing lesson, child playing in a basket, with an umbrella, fishermen on their boats, numerous portraits of men and women, including portraits of the caravaneer Beni Amer ; full-length, in front of his camel, warriors with shields and rifles, group of children, water carrier, meal, women washing, woman breastfeeding, preparing food, Arab women from Massaua, rich Abyssinian woman, nude woman lying down, standing up, woman with parasol carrying her child, Meskel (Feast of the True Cross), palace of Yohannes IV, church and obelisks of Aksum, construction of a bridge over the Mareb by Italian engineers, human bones in the mountain, Italians gathering around a makeshift tomb, arrival of general Arimondi in Massaua after the victory of Agordat, monument on Dogali hill, mass for the dead in the mountains, weapons and flags taken by the Italians at the battle of Agordat, Italian horsemen, graves symbolizing the Italian dead from the battles of Coatit, Epilati, Bertoia or Ai Caduti, group of Abyssinian women, sunset, photographer capturing a military parade, explosions, landscapes, forced labor, construction of fortifications, roads, panoramas of the Abiy Addi fort, portraits of soldiers, soldiers loading cannons, panorama of soldiers installing barbed wire around the fort, military encampment, portraits and settlers in their cars, prayer at the mosque, party with colonial and native officials. Images: 7.3 x 9.6 cm to 20.5 x 29 cm; album: 29.5 x 51 cm Luigi Naretti went to Africa around 1885 and settled in Massaoua. He remained there for over 30 years, providing an important testimony to the period of Italian occupation. This exceptional album contains his most emblematic photographs, including the famous equestrian portrait of Ras Mangasha. Another of his photographs featured in the album is that of an Abyssinian woman wearing a rich garment and numerous jewels. The Italian colonists used the term "Abyssinian", which actually refers to the Kebessa people. The album also contains numerous large-format portraits, particularly of women and warriors, as well as spectacular landscapes, historical events linked to the Italian conquest of Eritrea (construction, military parades, celebrations), several panoramas composed of two prints, and views of the country's emblematic sites, such as the church in Aksoum where the emperors were crowned. Because of their spectacular nature, most of these photographs were later used to illustrate postcards, until the late 1930s. Bibliography: -Antonio Rosati, "Imagini dellecampagne coloniali, Eritrea-Etiopia", Stato Maggiore dell'esercito, Ufficio Storico, Rome, 2005. -Silvana Palma, "Fotografia di una colonia: l'Eritrea di Luigi Naretti (1885-1900)", in TRIULZI (Alessandro, a cura di), "La colonia: Italiani in Eritrea, il Mulino", 2002.