Church of the Madonna di Loretto, Polla
Date
1857-1858
Creator
Alphonse Bernoud (1820 - 1889, French) , Photographer
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 72mm
width (print): 138mm
height (mount): 85mm
width (mount): 173mm
width (print): 138mm
height (mount): 85mm
width (mount): 173mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Stereoscopic view of earthquake damage to Polla, Italy. Architectural study showing the interior of the church of the Madonna di Loretto, looking towards the altar. Large fissures can be seen in the pillars and walls; the roof has fallen. A figure in a backpack stands among the rubble observing the destruction, the walls are propped with timber poles.
Numbered “168” in pencil, lower right-hand corner, front mount. Inscribed verso “page 270, p. II” in pencil and labelled “Polla. Church of the Madonna di Loretto. This church was built in commemoration of the great earthquake of 1652, and was most solidly constructed with a view to guard against the fate which has now reduced it to the condition here represented; nothing seems to have been solid enough to withstand the action of the subterraneous agencies at work. The majority of the persons killed were of the labouring class, and who, at the hour the terrible catastrophe happened, (ten o’clock at night,) had been in bed some time.”
This illustration was reproduced as a lithograph, and in a simplified form, in Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857: The first principles of observational seismology as developed in the report to the Royal Society..., by Robert Mallet, 2 vols., (London, Chapman and Hall, 1862), vol. 1, pp.294-295. Numbered ‘Photo pl.168’ and mentioned in the text on pages 296-7.
Numbered “168” in pencil, lower right-hand corner, front mount. Inscribed verso “page 270, p. II” in pencil and labelled “Polla. Church of the Madonna di Loretto. This church was built in commemoration of the great earthquake of 1652, and was most solidly constructed with a view to guard against the fate which has now reduced it to the condition here represented; nothing seems to have been solid enough to withstand the action of the subterraneous agencies at work. The majority of the persons killed were of the labouring class, and who, at the hour the terrible catastrophe happened, (ten o’clock at night,) had been in bed some time.”
This illustration was reproduced as a lithograph, and in a simplified form, in Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857: The first principles of observational seismology as developed in the report to the Royal Society..., by Robert Mallet, 2 vols., (London, Chapman and Hall, 1862), vol. 1, pp.294-295. Numbered ‘Photo pl.168’ and mentioned in the text on pages 296-7.
Object history
With the support of the Royal Society, Mallet undertook a survey of the damage caused by the 1857 earthquake in Basilicata, in the Kingdom of Naples, to advance his theories of seismic waves. Two French photographers, Alphonse Bernoud and an unidentified man known as Grellier, were employed to photograph the affected region. For a description of Mallet's expedition and the circumstances and attributions of the photographs, see Graziano Ferrari and Anita McConnell, "Robert Mallet and the 'Great Neapolitan Earthquake' of 1857", Notes and Records of the Royal Society 59 (1) (2005), pp. 45–64.
Associated place