Photo by Scoffone

Riccardo Scoffone (1889-1965) was Turin Turin-based studio portrait photographer, active from the 1920s to the 1950s. He was the successor to the Montabone photographic studio at 25 Piazza Castello in Turin and a refined portraitist. Scoffone portrayed many of the stars of Italian silent cinema.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 350. Photo: Scoffone.

Lyda Borelli (1887-1959) was the first Italian film diva. La Borelli was already an acclaimed stage actress before she became a star of the Italian silent cinema. The fascinating diva caused a craze among female fans, which was called 'Borellismo'.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 204. Photo: Scoffone. Italia Almirante Manzini in L'arzigogolo (Mario Almirante, 1924), an adaptation of the play by Sem Benelli.

Italia Almirante Manzini (1890-1941) was one of the divas of the Italian silent cinema. She starred in the classic epic Cabiria (1914).


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 521. Photo: Scoffone. Italia Almirante Manzini.

A refined portrait photographer

Professional photographer Riccardo Scoffone was born in 1889 in Turin. His brothers, Adriano and Corrado, also became photographers in Cuneo and Acqui, respectively.

Riccardo was the nephew of photographer Luigi Montabone, and in 1912, he took over his studio in Turin at Piazza Castello no. 25.

He was a refined portrait photographer, and he remained active till the 1950s.

In 1923, he was the General Secretary of the Superior Jury of the First International Exhibition of Photography, Optics and Cinematography in Turin, where he received an award for photography outside of the competition.

In the same year, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the International Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro. Riccardo Scoffone died in 1965 in his hometown of Turin.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 526. Photo: Scoffone. Italia Almirante Manzini in L'arzigogolo (Mario Almirante, 1924).


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 528. Photo: Scoffone. Italia Almirante Manzini in L'arzigogolo (Mario Almirante, 1924).


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 529. Photo: Scoffone. Italia Almirante Manzini in L'arzigogolo (Mario Almirante, 1924).


Italian postcard, no. 539. Photo: Scoffone.

Luigi Almirante (1886–1963) was an Italian stage and screen actor. He started his cinema career in the silent film La bellezza del mondo (1926), directed by Mario Almirante and starring his aunt Italia. With the advent of sound, he began to emerge in comical roles. With his slender body, wiry face and shrill voice, he became one of the best character actors of his time.


Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 536. Photo: Scoffone.

Oreste Bilancia (1881-1945) was an Italian stage and film actor who was highly active in Italian silent and sound cinema and German late silent film. He mostly appeared as a supporting actor, but occasionally he played the main character.


Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 537. Photo: Scoffone. Oreste Bilancia.


Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna. Photo: Scoffone, Turin. Caption: Oreste Bilancia. Turin, April 1924.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 31. Photo: Scoffone. Oreste Bilancia.

Sources: Associazione per la Fotografia Storica (Italian) and Museo Civici del Comune di Triesti (Italian).