River Tiber & Castle S. Angelo c. 1890 - 1900

Samuel Beckett made this albumen print of the River Tiber and Castle S. Angelo in Rome. It shows us a slice of 19th-century Italian life. Three figures occupy a small boat in the foreground. They are working class, perhaps fishermen or labourers, and the shot gives a sense of the everyday activities alongside Rome's grand monuments, like the Ponte Sant'Angelo and the Castel Sant'Angelo. The castle’s imposing structure, initially built as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian, now looms over the figures, a vestige of ancient Roman power. In the distance is the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, representing the spiritual authority of the Vatican. The image encapsulates a Rome caught between its rich past and the realities of its present. To understand the photo better, you could delve into archives and histories. These are just a few of the tools we might use to bring to light the complex stories behind such works.