Requesting Help From My Friends
I have no specific information on this restored photo; I cannot identify the flag which might provide the biggest clue, nor the nationality of the children.
The only thing I can say with certainty is that the photo is anywhere from 90-120 years old.
I would be most grateful for any help.
A. Mac/A.G. Restored Magic Lantern Slide Image
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Hoping the good number of smart, knowledgeable folks on NT can provide some info.
I would guess, pre WWII from the clothing, nuns, landscape. The flag is not the Vatican flag, but close. It could be from a local Catholic group. The caps on the kids head seem to have a star on themwhen you blow the photo up.
No question that it's pre WWII, and even pre WWI for that matter. Catholic for sure but I don't know which Order of Nuns. I can't make out the flag and I may re-scan at a higher resolution at some point.
What are the rings? The insignia on the caps are not clear and less so upon magnification.
Thanks for getting the discussion started.
my guess would be China or South East Asia....
Looks like a Chinese orphanage. But couldn't say from when. I think I agree it's most likely pre-WWI
I was thinking eastern Europe-- I pulled up the picture and zoomed in, and those look like european faces to me... A closeup look at the flag, it looks like arabic writing... I'm no help!
WOW!
If I had to hazard a guess, Southern Italy or Sicily. Roman Catholic holiday processional for a church elementary school.
The nuns habit is traditional roman catholic, white wimple, coif and collar; black everything else. The high staff in the background left topped by a cross flanked by standards in the typical processional position is a dead giveaway.
The flag, Very dark on the staff, white in the middle and medium on the outer edge. Green, White and Red. Italian or Mexican. Religious order flags generally carry the color of the nationality or are in fact the national flag with something to denote the order to which it belongs. In this case a plain coat of arms in the center with what appears to be a Latin motto top and bottom. Can't make out the spelling though but the larger letters conform to turn of the century Latin typeface.
The children; To me they do not look like Indian/Spanish descent (Mexican) they look more white European to me. (the grayscale does nothing to help here, adding a hair of sepia and a few more hundred or so PPI might bring out a little more) they are wearing hats and what looks like ceremonial dress and carrying wreaths. Boys for the most part in overcoats wearing shortpants, the Girls in frilly cotton dresses, all identical like uniform dress.
The Buildings; pretty much cut stone everywhere with elaborate window treatments on the finer buildings and portico's. The roofs of the lesser buildings are tile with square clay chimneys. The Spire in the background is a truncated dome shaped oblate topped by a cross.
The road; Dirt, smooth on either side and rough in the middle, which is what you get in a dry climate when carts and wagons are drawn by mules and horses. The walls edging the road is rough cut stone that is mortared with concrete, topped with a continuous concrete cap, the cap is broken in a few places, meaning it is old very old.
Vegetation; short wide trees, nothing tall or towering and shrubs bushy shrubs what you get in a semi arid climate and NO grass to be seen. (but that could be an effect of the grayscale also, well that might be grass at the base of the wall)
Sunlight; Scorching I'm sure, by the umbrella being carried by the matron in the left middle for shade, the shadows tell mid-afternoon and the kid in the foreground is taking a swipe at the sweat on his brow.
My guess Sicily, maybe southern Italy.
That sounds pretty close NM. The church spire in the background looks much like Southern Italian architecture. The semi rounded top suggests some Greek influence, which would make Sicily more likely than the mainland. Not rounded enough to be Greece itself though. I've seen the rings before, also carried by children in a picture; can't remember exactly where, but it brought up a nautical image in my mind. I seem to recall it having something to do with the blessing of a fishing fleet, which also would suggest Sicily.
Marsha, it could be Eastern Europe or the Balkans, but the church spire isn't quite the rounded dome like structure that a Coptic influence would suggest.
I just remembered that one of the restorations depicted the Roman Amphitheater Pompeii, Naples, Italy in 1903. It's possible certainly that if the photographer was in Naples, he/she could have also traveled to Sicily.
I haven't found any other slides of Italy, but maybe in some of the other no-number-no-caption, heretofore unidentified shots, Italian subjects might be among them.
When I get through these re-restorations, I'll be posting many I am unable to ID; that should make for some interesting commentary.