As a nation state, Italy has emerged only in 1871. Until then the country was politically divided into a large number of independant cities, provinces and islands. The currently available evidences point out to a dominant Etruscan, Greek and Roman cultural influence on today's Italians.
Not sure if this is the right location for this query - if not, excuse my ignorance
I have a picture of one of my Italian ancestors in the company of two women, I assume his mother and his aunt. I've been told that this picture is one of my great-great-grandfather, who was born in Pratola Serra in 1835.
I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that this couldn't possibly be him - as photography wasn't that common yet, and that it would be too expensive for the average Southern Italian family?
I tried researching based on fashion at the time - but led me nowhere.
Was this a print on paper or glass or metal? Paper, actually card, would didn't start until the 1850s. Any earlier would have been glass or tin. Despite this he looks 3-4 years old. Modern photography would just have been invented at that point (1839) and no one had it done, it was only scientific at that point.
THanks for the replay - I believe you're right. It is on paper, on a postcard - with "place stamp here" in English on the back.
Looking at some other family pictures I was just given, and observing faces etc (and armed with your advice) I believe that this is my grandfather (b. 1919).
The older generations who lived in southern Italy certainly remember the sound of the bells or the siren that occurred at various times of the day. Life was marked by simple and repetitive gestures: work, the relationship with nature, sharing with the family and the people of the small villages. Now...
