Marco Polo

Studies in Global Europe-Asia Connections

Giacomo Caneva, Artist and Pioneer of Photography

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Abstract
If the historiography of Italian photography owes the identification of Giacomo Caneva (1813-1865) as the “precursor of photography in Rome” to Silvio Negro, albeit accompanied by a rather immature and unflattering assessment, it is undoubtedly Piero Becchetti who conducted the first in-depth study into Caneva’s life and photographic corpus from his departure from his native Padua – after training at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice – to his 1838 arrival and subsequent career in Rome.


open access | peer reviewed

Submitted: Oct. 10, 2025 | Accepted: Dec. 4, 2025 | Published Feb. 2, 2026 | Language: it


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