Fratelli Alinari

In 1852, Leopoldo Alinari founded a photographic studio. His brothers Giuseppe and Romualdo joined him two years later to establish Fratelli Alinari Fotografi Editori, a photographic workshop dedicated initially to the documentation of notable Italian paintings, sculptures, monuments and architecture. They subsequently expanded the scope of their photographic project to include the towns and landscapes of Italy, as well as portrait photography and images of national costume. The brothers achieved recognition for the quality of their work, and by 1860 their portrait subjects included the Italian royal family.

The three brothers shared the work of running the studio, Romualdo the eldest (1830–1891) ran the administrative aspects of the studio; Leonardo (1832–1865), the middle brother was responsible for business organization including cultural policy; the youngest brother, Giuseppe (1836-1890) was the technical expert. The main subjects of their photographs were architecture, monuments and works of art. They also ran the Alinari publishing house in Italy.