Luigi Pesce

Luigi Pesce (1814-1883), a Colonel in the service of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, holds a distinct and crucial place in the documentation of ancient Iranian archaeology. Arriving in Iran in 1848 during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, his official mandate was the military training of Iranian infantry units. While his life began in Naples and was rooted in European military tradition, Pesce's lasting significance rests entirely upon the photographic record he created of the great imperial sites of Persia.

Pesce’s surviving body of work, comprising approximately fifteen documented photographs, provides essential early views of major Achaemenid and Sasanian structures. Distributed across prestigious international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, these images are valued not only for their technical quality but for their historical immediacy. His documentation focused extensively on the ruins of Persepolis, capturing specific perspectives like the Gate of all Nations and the colossal figures at Naksh-i Rustam. Taken during a period when the sites were largely uncovered and prior to extensive modern excavation, Pesce’s photographs offer a visual source crucial for scholars studying the monuments in their mid-19th-century state. These original plates are the foundation for numerous high-quality prints and museum-quality reproductions available to contemporary viewers.

Working with the cumbersome equipment and demanding processes of the early photographic era, Pesce managed to capture the immense scale and stark isolation of these historical ruins with remarkable precision. It is an enduring irony that a European Colonel, dispatched on the distinctly modernizing task of military consultation, became one of the first Western practitioners to systematically and artfully photograph the remnants of Persia’s classical past, effectively serving as an accidental architectural preservationist.

Born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Pesce’s long career eventually led to his death in Tehran. He was interred alongside his wife in Doulab Cemetery, an unusual final resting place that underscores the depth of his eventual connection to his adopted home. Today, his historically significant works are increasingly moving into the public domain, making his unique, early view of 19th-century Persian archaeology widely available as downloadable artwork.