These postcards with the oldest monuments in Rome were issued around 1890. They were created using the Photochrom process, which allowed black and white photographs to be colorized. It is a variant of chromolithography invented in the 1880s by Hans Jakob Schmidt of the Swiss printing company Orell Gessner Füssli. The technology was complex and kept secret.
The process involved creating a lithographic stone from the negative of a photograph. A separate printing plate was made for each color. Up to 15 different printing stones could be used in the production of one postcard. The result was color photographs with surprisingly realistic colors.
Triumphal Arch of Titus on the ancient Sacred Road.
Minerva Square.
Street scene.
Promotional video:
The titular Church of Trinita dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps.
St. Peter's Square.
Piazza del Popolo (People's Square).
Pyramid of Cestius next to the gates of San Paolo.
Trevi Fountain.
Inside St. Paul's Cathedral.
Fountain del Aqua Felice.
Temple of Vesta.
View of the Roman Forum.
Roman forum.
Trajan's Column.
Bridge and Castle of the Holy Angel.
Temple of Bosco.
Inside the Colosseum.
Colosseum and the antique fountain of Meta Sudans.
On Capitol Hill.
Piazza Navona.
Photo source: Library of Congress.