Letter from William Lake Price to Dr. Ernst Becker reporting that he has obtained permission to photograph pictures in some collections in Rome but that he is faced with constant difficulties and obstructiveness

Lake Price reports from Rome that he has finally obtained permission from Prince Borghese and Prince Barbarini to photograph their Raphael pictures, although all the Roman nobility had refused permission to photograph their collections since Prince Borghese's 'Entombment' by Raphael was left cracked and warped after a previous attempt to photograph it. Colonel Bruce and Odo Russell are in contact with Cardinal Antonelli about the paintings in the Vatican Museums, and the British Consul is seeking Prince Doria's permission for his paintings to be photographed. Meanwhile, Lake Price has photographed the house in Borgo and the Villa Madama: he asks whether the Prince really wishes him to photograph the garden front of the latter (of which he has drawn a sketch in the letter) as it has been spoiled by the weather and by the bricking up of the loggia arches so that it is no longer picturesque. He does not think he will go further than Rome this spring because of the difficulty of transporting his photographic equipment and the obstructions put in his way by the authorities. He has commissions from the Art Union of London and from Messrs Colnaghi to photograph various Old Masters elsewhere in Italy and in Dresden but he fears that the 'desirable object' of showing copies of these great works 'to our public', will probably be frustrated by official refusals to let him do the photography wherever he goes. At Paris on his way to Rome he saw Bingham, who despite the success of his photograhs of the 'Prise de Malakoff' and of various Meissonniers is very diffident about photographing Old Master pictures, but not drawings or cartoons.