Giovanni MARZIANI (1872- after 1914) (attributed to) - Lot 77

Giovanni MARZIANI (1872- after 1914) (attributed to) Young man against a column in the San Dominico cloister in Taormina, c.1900 (Vincenzo Galdi ?) Vintage albumen print, black band at bottom of print with "N°29" in negative and annotated "G051" in black pencil on verso 23 x 17 cm 1800/2000 euros Giovanni Marziani was a photographer and close friend of Wilhelm von Gloeden, with whom he worked in Taormina. According to publications of the time, he produced some male nudes, but Marziani's only known prints are portraits and landscapes. Some signed prints feature a black band at the bottom of the image with a highly complex and specific "N" (to indicate the number of the negative). On our print, the black band at the bottom of the image and the "N" of the negative number are identical to what can be seen on some of the photographer's signed prints, suggesting that this may be one of G. Marziani's rare male nudes, the only image and print known to date. Madame Nicole Canet , Galerie Au Bonheur du Jour in her book "Vincenzo Galdi" published in 2025, pages 38-39, identifies the photograph as Vincenzo Galdi's first self-portrait.