Street from Strozzi Palace to Old Market 1883

Joseph Pennell captured "Street from Strozzi Palace to Old Market" using etching, a printmaking technique, around the turn of the century. Pennell, an American expatriate, was deeply interested in how urban environments reflected the lived experiences of their inhabitants. Here, we see Florence, Italy, depicted not as a collection of grand monuments, but as a bustling site of commerce and daily life. The architecture looms, pressing in on the figures below, each of whom seems engrossed in their own purpose. Pennell uses light and shadow to create a sense of depth. We’re invited to consider not just what we see, but what the figures in the print see. What are their lives like? What social classes do they belong to? Consider how Pennell uses the built environment to frame the people within it. The street becomes a stage upon which identities are performed and social roles are enacted. Pennell is inviting us to think about how our surroundings shape us, and how we, in turn, shape our surroundings.