Italian family of photographers. From 1845 to 1850 Leopoldo Alinari worked in Florence for a wealthy lithographer, Giuseppe Bardi. With him he organized Fratelli Alinari, Presso Bardi, a small photographic laboratory in the Via Cornina, Florence. In a city that took a keen interest in the thriving photographic industry, their venture was soon successful. By 1854 Leopoldo was able to purchase the business from Bardi, and with his brothers Romualdo Alinari (1830-91) and Giuseppe Alinari (1836-92) he founded Fratelli Alinari, Editori Fotografichi. They specialized in art reproductions, as well as portraits and landscapes (e.g. photographs of Tuscany and of the buildings and monuments in Florence, Pisa, Siena, Rome and Naples). In 1861 they moved the studio to new premises at 8, Via Nazionale. After Leopoldo's death his brothers carried on the business. Giuseppe experimented with such new photographic processes as wet collodion, and the firm published numerous catalogues, concentrating on photographs of buildings and works of art. In 1887, as a jury-member, Giuseppe took part in the first Italian photographic exhibition, held in Florence. This led to the establishment of the Societ? Fotografica Italiana (1889) and the publication of the Bolletino della Societ? fotografica italiana, to which the Alinari brothers actively contributed. In 1890, after the deaths of Romualdo and Giuseppe, Leopoldo's son Vittorio Alinari (1859-1932) took over the business. He strengthened their catalogue publishing, organized important campaigns to promote architectural and documentary photography and continued to experiment with photographic materials. In 1892 the firm was renamed Fratelli Alinari IDEA (Istituto di Edizioni Artistiche). Although Vittorio sold it in 1920 it is still in business, and the new owners maintained its success by producing over 70,000 items, which represent a valuable source of information about Italy's cultural heritage.
See the Abbreviations for further details.
