Il Duomo di Milano

Giacomo Brogi (Florence, April 6, 1822 – Florence, November 29, 1881) was an Italian photographer. At the age of 11, he began working for the publisher Batelli and attended Perfetti's engraving school. Later, in 1846, the year of his marriage to Enrichetta Baldelli, he began working with the copperplate engraver Achille Paris as a retoucher. He began his career as a photographer around 1856, founding his own firm around 1864: "Edizioni Brogi Firenze", specializing in portraiture and later in fine art photography, particularly sculpture reproductions and panoramic views. He carried out several photographic campaigns throughout Italy and organized a major one in the Middle East, particularly photographing the Holy Places. For this latter work, he was awarded a silver medal by Pope Pius IX. The Brogi firm participated in the Vienna Exhibition in 1873, the Milan Exhibition in 1881, and in the Universal Exhibition in Florence in 1889, exhibiting works out of competition under the sole title of sponsorship. Upon his death, management of the business passed to his son Carlo (1850-1925), one of the founders of the Italian Photographic Society and a prominent figure in the fight for the rights of photographers, while his other son, Alfredo, took over the administration. With Carlo's death, the inheritance passed to his daughter Eugenia and her husband Laurati, who died the following year in 1926. Little is known about the period that followed; we know that in 1940, his son Giorgio Laurati attempted to revive the photographic establishment, thanks in part to the work of Gino Malenotti, then renowned for his skill in photographing statues, and to the Hungarian scholar Jenō Làny for his work on the works of Donatello, which used Malenotti's images. The firm ceased operations around 1950, and a few years later, the Brogi estate became part of the Alinari Archive.