Photographs for Diplomacy, Commerce, and Science
Identifying Individuals and Locations in Giacomo Caneva’s Images of China
Abstract
Giacomo Caneva was one of the first professional photographers to travel to East Asia. Possessing a deep knowledge of photographic techniques, he owned a shop in Rome, and was well‑known among European artists and tourists who visited the city for his images of Roman monuments, landscapes, and genre scenes. In 1859, he traveled to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Huzhou via Calcutta as a member of the Castellani‑Freschi Expedition, whose aim was to collect healthy silkworms to mitigate the effects of pébrine, a silkworm disease that had damaged silk production in Europe.
open access | peer reviewed
Submitted: Sept. 16, 2025 | Accepted: Nov. 10, 2025 | Published Feb. 2, 2026 | Language: it
Copyright © 2026 Giulia Pra Floriani. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-011-6/003