Luigi Pesce (1828 – 27 November 1864) was an Italian colonel and photographer who traveled to Iran in 1848, during the reign of

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...

, to train Iranian infantry units. He was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy and died in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Iran. He was buried beside his wife in

Doulab Cemetery Doulab Cemetery is a historical cemetery situated in the eastern suburbs of Tehran, Iran. One of the most important Christian cemeteries, it consists of five sections: * Armenian Apostolic * Eastern Orthodox (Russians, Georgians and Greeks) * Rom ...

Photographing Iran

An amateur photographer who spoke

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, Pesce self-funded the expedition that produced the first photo collection of Iran's ancient monuments, and presented a copy to Naser al-Din Shah—who was himself a photographic enthusiast—on 29 April 1858. A second copy was also produced from the collection in the same year and was sent to Prince William I,

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

. Another copy was donated to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art; it contains 75 photographs and is probably the same album that was sent to the Prussian King. The oldest pictures in this collection were taken between 1852 and 1855. There are three photos of Naser al-Din Shah during his younger years and one group picture in the collection. Most of the images show the architecture of Iran during the 1800s. The images hold a unique historical value and illustrate the lives of people from different social classes, including members of the royal court. Although few women have been captured in the photos, it clearly documents the existing social hierarchy. Pesce's photos were shown at the World Harris Exhibition in 1867 and received an honorary award.وب‌گاه آفتاب

Persepolis

Pesce is considered the first photographer to have captured images of

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

Pasargadae Pasargadae (from Old Persian ''Pāθra-gadā'', "protective club" or "strong club"; Modern Persian: ''Pāsārgād'') was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), who ordered its construction and the location of ...

and

Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (literal translation, lit. mural of Rostam, fa, نقش رستم ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock relie ...

. Naser al-Din Shah, who had sent daguerreotypist Jules Richard on an unsuccessful mission to photograph Persepolis in 1850, greatly appreciated Pesce's work. During his reign, he also paid other photographers to come to Iran and capture historical sites.

References

External links

مجموعه لوئیجی پشه
در تارنمای کتابخانه ملی فرانسه {{DEFAULTSORT:Pesce, Luigi 1828 births 1864 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people Italian photographers Italian expatriates in Iran Explorers of Iran Italian colonels Italian military personnel Burials at Doulab Cemetery People of Qajar Iran

Photographing Iran

Persepolis

See also

References

External links