Archives held at the Hamilton Kerr Institute

Early Photographic Archive

This is a collection of photographs owned by the Fitzwilliam Museum, the large part of which was given by the Royal Collection in 1976. The photographs are from the late nineteenth century and are of paintings in the principal European galleries. Primarily from the studio of Braun, some were made by the Italian Alinari brothers. The photographs reflect early photographic techniques such as albumen prints and carbon prints.

These photographs are a valuable resource because of their technical complexity and art historical interest. Works of art, including those destroyed by time or war can be examined and those still extent can be compared to their earlier appearance. They also reflect the taste of the period in which the photographs were made. The collection comprises photographs of the works of painters such as Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Fra Angelico, Bronzino, Botticelli, Bellini, Michelangelo, Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Dürer, Van Eyck and Cranach.

The collection was indexed in 1986 by Berna Copray. We hope to digitise this archive in the near future to allow people to access this resource through the internet. Please see our Access Policy for more information on accessing this archive.