Giuseppe Primoli (1851 – 1927) was an Italian photographer. He lived in Paris from 1853 to 1870. He befriended writers and artists both in Italy and France, and was host to Guy de Maupassant, Paul Bourget, Alexandre Dumas fils, Sarah Bernhardt and others in Palazzo Primoli in Rome. In 1901 he became the sole owner of the palazzo, which he enlarged and modernised between 1904 and 1911.
Primoli was a bibliophile and collector, who assembled a large collection of books and prints. He amassed a collection of books by Stendhal as well as many from the writer’s library.
During the last decades of the nineteenth century, Primoli, an avid photographer, produced over 10,000 photographs. His most productive period was 1888-1894. His brother Luigi left him his photographic archive when he died 1925.
Ponte Nomentano, ca. 1896. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Riders wading through water, ca. 1895. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Photographic competition, 1889. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Workshop in the Ghetto, ca. 1890. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Princess Mathilde Bonaparte and Charles Gounod, 1893. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Barber outside Santa Bibiana church, ca. 1890. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Geneviève Straus (Madame Bizet), Mme Maurice Lippmann, née Colette Dumas d’Hauterive and Guy de Maupassant, 1889. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
1895. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
T.A. Edison and entourage at the Eiffel tower, 1889. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Eleonora Duse with Matilde Serao, Francesco Paolo and Tristan Bernard, 1897. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
Zigeunerin mit einem Kind im Korb, 1890. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
J.E. Blanche painting in his studio. Photo by Giuseppe Primoli
