Megalethoscope: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Interlaken, Switzerland Carlo Ponti.jpg|thumb|'''Carlo Ponti, Interlaken, Switzerland, night view albumen print shown rear-lit in megalethoscope''']] |
[[File:Interlaken, Switzerland Carlo Ponti.jpg|thumb|'''Carlo Ponti, Interlaken, Switzerland, night view albumen print shown rear-lit in megalethoscope''']] |
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[[Image:Megalethoscope description.jpg|thumb|Description of Ponti's Megalethoscope]] |
[[Image:Megalethoscope description.jpg|thumb|Description of Ponti's Megalethoscope]] |
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The '''megalethoscope''' is an [[optics|optical]] apparatus, a sophisticated version of the [[Raree show|peep show]], designed by [[Carlo Ponti (photographer)|Carlo Ponti]] of [[Venice]] before 1862.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Paoli |first=Sylvia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203941782 |title=Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-94178-2 |editor-last=Hannavy |editor-first=John |pages=1144–1146 |language=en |chapter=Ponti, Carlo (c. 1822–1893) Optician and photographer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mannoni|first1=Laurent|title=Le Mouvement Continué|date=1970|publisher=Mazzotta|location=Italy|isbn=88-202-1164-5|page=196}}</ref> |
The '''megalethoscope''' is an [[optics|optical]] apparatus, a sophisticated version of the [[Raree show|peep show]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Wolf |first=Mark J.P. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/809532788 |title=Before the crash : early video game history |date=2012 |publisher=Wayne State U.P |isbn=978-0-8143-3450-8 |location=Detroit |pages=36-7 |language=en |oclc=809532788}}</ref> designed by [[Carlo Ponti (photographer)|Carlo Ponti]] of [[Venice]] before 1862.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Paoli |first=Sylvia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203941782 |title=Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-94178-2 |editor-last=Hannavy |editor-first=John |pages=1144–1146 |language=en |chapter=Ponti, Carlo (c. 1822–1893) Optician and photographer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mannoni|first1=Laurent|title=Le Mouvement Continué|date=1970|publisher=Mazzotta|location=Italy|isbn=88-202-1164-5|page=196}}</ref> |
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== Invention == |
== Invention == |
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The megalethoscope is a larger version (mega-) of the [[alethoscope]], (from the Greek “true”, “exact” and “vision”) in 1860 which Ponti presented to the Société française de photographie in 1861, then in April, to the [[Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione|Istituto di Scienze]], Lettere ed Arti in Venice, earning an honourable mention there in May.<ref name="athl">{{Cite book |last=Minici |first=Carlo Alberto Zotti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6kfAQAAIAAJ&q=Alethoscope |title=Magic visions before the advent of the cinema |date=2001 |publisher=Il poligrafo |isbn=978-88-7115-299-8 |language=it}}</ref> He obtained a patent in January 1862 and commenced marketing it and photographs to be viewed using the device.<ref name=":0" /> |
The megalethoscope is a larger version (mega-) of the [[alethoscope]], (from the Greek “true”, “exact” and “vision”) in 1860 which Ponti presented to the Société française de photographie in 1861, then in April, to the [[Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione|Istituto di Scienze]], Lettere ed Arti in Venice, earning an honourable mention there in May.<ref name="athl">{{Cite book |last=Minici |first=Carlo Alberto Zotti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6kfAQAAIAAJ&q=Alethoscope |title=Magic visions before the advent of the cinema |date=2001 |publisher=Il poligrafo |isbn=978-88-7115-299-8 |language=it}}</ref> He obtained a patent in January 1862 and commenced marketing it and photographs to be viewed using the device.<ref name=":0" /> His invention was awarded Grand Prix at the [[1862 International Exhibition|International Exhibition]] in London in 1862.<ref>Ponti Carlo. ''Charles Ponti Opticien Et Photographe De S.m. Le Roi D'italie : Inventeur Et Fabriquant De L'alethoscope ... : Place S.l Marc N. 52. Venise Riva Degli Schiavoni (Quai) N. 4180''. C. Ponti 1862. Advertisement for Ponti's photographs of Venice and Italy. Wood-engraved ill. of the medal awarded Ponti at the London International Exhibition of 1862. Printed on gray wove paper</ref> |
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The megalethoscope |
The megalethoscope<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ponti |first=Carlo |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/79947651 |title=The megalethoscope, invented by Charles Ponti, optician & photographer. : Its object and use. |date=1862 |publisher=C. Ponti |oclc=79947651}}</ref> was produced for him by cabinetmaker Demetrio Puppolin, whose name is inscribed on different models. It was a substantial, often elaborate item of furniture that only the well-to-do could afford;<ref name=":1" /> some are highly decorated with pearl inlay and marquetry, and they often held collections of photographs in a cabinet beneath. |
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== Description, operation and effect == |
== Description, operation and effect == |
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[[Category:Optical devices]] |
[[Category:Optical devices]] |
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[[Category:3D imaging]] |
[[Category:3D imaging]] |
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[[Category:Photography]] |
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Revision as of 06:23, 26 February 2023
The megalethoscope is an optical apparatus, a sophisticated version of the peep show,[1] designed by Carlo Ponti of Venice before 1862.[2][3]
Invention
The megalethoscope is a larger version (mega-) of the alethoscope, (from the Greek “true”, “exact” and “vision”) in 1860 which Ponti presented to the Société française de photographie in 1861, then in April, to the Istituto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Venice, earning an honourable mention there in May.[4] He obtained a patent in January 1862 and commenced marketing it and photographs to be viewed using the device.[2] His invention was awarded Grand Prix at the International Exhibition in London in 1862.[5]
The megalethoscope[6] was produced for him by cabinetmaker Demetrio Puppolin, whose name is inscribed on different models. It was a substantial, often elaborate item of furniture that only the well-to-do could afford;[1] some are highly decorated with pearl inlay and marquetry, and they often held collections of photographs in a cabinet beneath.
Description, operation and effect
The megalethoscope was and is often confused with the stereoscope which was of a different design and effect, and which Ponti also produced and published, mostly for the tourist market but also for those interested in art and architecture, in large quantities and to an international clientele through outlets in Europe, England and America. In effect, the megalethoscope and the alethoscope are capable of a certain illusion of relief, that uses chromostereopsis. Both devices enlarged photographic views through a wide, thick magnifying lens to create an illusion of the subjects' plasticity, perspective depth and modelling.[7]
Ponti and others produced specially prepared photographs for use in the Megalethoscope. The albumen photographs may be either backlit by an internal light source—usually an oil or kerosene lantern—or lit by daylight admitted via a system of opening doors. The plates for some versions of the megalethoscope are curved with slotted wooden braces for optical correction of lens aberrations,[8] and pinprick perforations and mechanically thinned areas on the albumen prints have been made for viewing the photographic images under reflected and transmitted light to suggest day or night lighting, fantastic effects (diavoletti) and to add colours.[9][10]
A degree of animation of megalethoscope views was applied to scenes of events, and as a way to re-enact history, such as a daylight view of an empty St Mark's Square that could be transformed with back lighting into a night scene showing illuminations and lively crowds celebrating of the annexation of the Veneto by the rest of Italy.[2] Another of the transparencies shows the burning of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris during the Paris Commune.
Sets of images take the viewer on a simulated trip along the Grand Canal at night, a popular Venetian tourist experience. Ponti's success benefitted from his familiarity with, and repetition of, traditional painted views, and his distribution network through commercial studios beyond Venice, including that of Francis Frith in the United Kingdom and Pompeo Pozzi in Milan.[11]
Rights
Ponti's rights to these devices lapsed after 1866, due to administrative confusion after the after the Third Italian War of Independence, when Venice, along with the rest of the Veneto, became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy. Despite Ponte's legal battles between 1868 and 1876 to prevent it, Carlo Naya began to manufacture and sell the Aletoscopio, which Ponti tried to counter by issuing variations of the instrument under other names including Amfoteroscopio, Dioramoscopio, Pontioscopio, Cosmorama Fotografico. Well aware of their market value, Naya counter-sued Ponti for the many views that he had taken and were sold with Ponti's megalethoscope, though many were actually taken by Naya's assistants.[2]
References
- ^ a b Wolf, Mark J.P. (2012). Before the crash : early video game history. Detroit: Wayne State U.P. pp. 36–7. ISBN 978-0-8143-3450-8. OCLC 809532788.
- ^ a b c d Paoli, Sylvia (2013). "Ponti, Carlo (c. 1822–1893) Optician and photographer". In Hannavy, John (ed.). Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. Routledge. pp. 1144–1146. ISBN 978-0-203-94178-2.
- ^ Mannoni, Laurent (1970). Le Mouvement Continué. Italy: Mazzotta. p. 196. ISBN 88-202-1164-5.
- ^ Minici, Carlo Alberto Zotti (2001). Magic visions before the advent of the cinema (in Italian). Il poligrafo. ISBN 978-88-7115-299-8.
- ^ Ponti Carlo. Charles Ponti Opticien Et Photographe De S.m. Le Roi D'italie : Inventeur Et Fabriquant De L'alethoscope ... : Place S.l Marc N. 52. Venise Riva Degli Schiavoni (Quai) N. 4180. C. Ponti 1862. Advertisement for Ponti's photographs of Venice and Italy. Wood-engraved ill. of the medal awarded Ponti at the London International Exhibition of 1862. Printed on gray wove paper
- ^ Ponti, Carlo (1862). The megalethoscope, invented by Charles Ponti, optician & photographer. : Its object and use. C. Ponti. OCLC 79947651.
- ^ Verwiebe, Birgit (September 1995). "L'illusione nel tempo e nello spazio. Il megaletoscopio di Carlo Ponti, un apparecchio fotografi co degli anni 1860". Fotologia (in Italian). 16/17 (Autumn/Winter 1995): 53–61.
- ^ Heylen, Sylke; Maes, Herman (1999). "Megalethoscope Plates: A Case Study: Conservation Treatment of Megalethoscope plates from the Collection of the Museum for Art and History". Topics in Photographic Preservation. 8: 23–30.
- ^ Dune, Corinne (1 September 1996). "La photographie en spectacle : traitements de papiers albuminés peints transparents". Coré (in French). 1 (1996): 26–30. ISSN 1277-2550. OCLC 886969366.
- ^ Iglesias, Rodrigo Martín (2011). "A través de la pantalla". Jornadas Nacionales de Investigación en Arte en Argentina. VIII (2011). La Plata.
- ^ Pelizzari, Maria Antonella (2011). Photography and Italy. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 49, 55–58. ISBN 978-1-86189-769-5. OCLC 587209562.
External links
- Princeton University Library's Megalethoscope
- George Eastman House Online Megalethoscope Viewer
- George Eastman House blog post on the Megalethoscope
