AAR Photographic Archive (AAR-P)

The Photographic Archive of the American Academy in Rome provides a visual record of the architecture and topography of ancient Rome and Italy and the Roman Empire, for the purposes of scholarship, research and publication. The Photographic Archive also preserves and provides access to a number of historic photograph collections on archaeology, art and architecture, as well as landscape architecture and gardens. It includes special collections important to the history of the American Academy in Rome. In addition to its own collections, the American Academy also houses the Fototeca Unione, founded by Ernest Nash with the donation of his own collection and administered jointly by the International Union of Institutes of Archaeology, History and History of Art in Rome and the American Academy in Rome. The Fototeca Unione is a growing collection focusing on the architecture and topography of the Roman world.

All of these collections have artifactual value for the history of photography as well as documentary value for the study of their specific subjects.

The photograph collections of the American Academy were acquired over the years mainly through donations. They represent an exceptional document of the activity of noted personalities, master photographers as well as scholars, active from the second half of the 19th century (Parker collection: Roman and Medieval Architecture), to the beginning of the 20th century (Van Deman collection: archaeological subjects, especially wall structures and aqueducts; Moscioni collection: archaeology, art and architecture; Askew collection: the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum), and the later 20th century (Masson collection: Rome and Italian architecture; and others).

Special collections include the Berman collection of scenography and theater costume design. The Fellows' Work collection is of great value for the Academy's institutional history; it documents the individual and collaborative projects of Fellows and visitors in the School of Fine Arts at the American Academy in Rome (1910-1958).

Access to the Collection: The Photographic Archive of the American Academy in Rome provides a study collection of over 60,000 prints in Rome. Scholars holding reading cards at the American Academy Library or any of the Libraries of URBS (Unione Biblioteche Romane Scientifiche) and members of the institutes of the International Union of Institutes of Archaeology, History and History of Art in Rome are automatically eligible to access the collection. Others may apply to the Photo Archivist for an appointment. Reproductions for study or publication are available for a fee. Users who are unable to come to Rome may consult the published microfiche edition of the Fototeca Unione: Ancient Roman architecture: photographic archive on microfiche (2 v., 1979-1982) or the URBS catalog.