Riviera di Levante: The Coast near Sestri Levante, ca. 1870

About the Work

Alfred Noack completed artistic training in Dresden before emigrating to Italy in the late 1850s. After four years in Rome, he opened a photo studio in Genoa which served him as a base for explorations of the Ligurian Riviera. Here he captured the Sestri Levante section of the coast, a popular holiday destination, in a photo composed in painting-like manner. The splendid agave blossom in the foreground leads the gaze from lower left to upper right, close up to far away. By reducing the depth of field after the manner of traditional landscape painting, Noack has achieved a suggestive atmospheric image. This effect is further enhanced by the path alluded to at the lower left, which prompts the viewers to stroll through the Mediterranean landscape themselves—at least in their imaginations.