Vittorio Sella
Vittorio Sella (28 August 1859 – 12 August 1943) was an Italian photographer and mountaineer, whose photographs of mountains are regarded as some of the finest ever made.
Vittorio Sella
l'impegno rivista di storia contemporanea aspetti politici, economici, sociali e culturali del Vercellese, del Biellese e della Valsesia ANN O 17” -n. 1 - Aprile 1997 Spedizione in abbonamento postal · Public domain
- Born
- 1859
- Died
- 1943
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Italy
- Occupation
- photographer · explorer · mountaineer
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Vittorio Sella (28 August 1859 – 12 August 1943) was an Italian photographer and mountaineer, whose photographs of mountains are regarded as some of the finest ever made.
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Vittorio Sella (1859–1943) was an Italian explorer, mountaineer and photographer. The explorer was born and died in Biella. Languages used include Italian.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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getty · 500304549 · wikidata · Q1339199 · wikipedia · Vittorio Sella
In this article
Life and career
Life and career
Sella was born in Biella in the foothills of the Alps and acquired his interest in Alpinism from his uncle, Quintino Sella. He made a number of significant climbs in the Alps, including the first winter ascents of the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, and the first winter traverse of Mont Blanc. He took part in several expeditions further afield, including three to the Caucasus (where a peak now bears his name), to Mount Saint Elias in Alaska, to the Rwenzori in Africa, and the 1909 expedition to K2 and the Karakoram. The latter three expeditions were in the company of Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi. Sella continued to climb into his old age, and made his last attempt on the Matterhorn at seventy six. The attempt failed when one of his guides was injured in an accident.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1859
Vittorio Sella was born in 1859.
1943
Vittorio Sella died at Biella.
Photography
The high quality of Sella's photography was in part due to his use of 30×40 cm photographic plates, in spite of the difficulty of carrying bulky and fragile equipment into remote places. He had to invent equipment, including modified pack saddles and rucksacks, to allow these particularly large glass plates to be transported safely. His photographs were widely published and exhibited, and highly praised; Ansel Adams, who saw thirty-one that Sella had presented to the US Sierra Club, said they inspired "a definitely religious awe". Many of the photographs he took were of mountains which had not been previously recorded and so have historical as well as artistic significance; for example by recording the retreat of glaciers in the Rwenzori mountains in Central Africa.
Death and legacy
Sella died in Biella in 1943. His collection of photographs is now managed by the Sella Foundation (Fondazione Sella) in Biella (Vittorio Sella photographs). A selection of pictures made by Sella is exhibited in the Museo Nazionale della Montagna "Duca degli Abruzzi" in Turin. Some of his photographs of the Rwenzori mountains are owned by Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1339199: Vittorio Sella
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Vittorio Sella”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500304549, Istituto Nazionale di Fotografia Alpina Vittorio Sella.
Unverified · The Getty Research Institute
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Crivellaro, Pietro. SELLA, Vittorio. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. 91. 2018.
- 2.Curran, Jim. K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain. Hodder & Stoughton. 25. 1995. 978-0-340-66007-2.
- 3.Frozen in Time: Vittorio Sella. The Daily Telegraph. 1 July 2008.
- 4.Kaufman, Andrew J. K2: The 1939 Tragedy. Mountaineers Books. 170. 1992. 978-0-89886-323-9.
- 5.Frozen in Time: Vittorio Sella. The Daily Telegraph. 1 July 2008.
- 6.The Georgian Museum of Photography. Vittorio Sella.
- 7.Ludwig Amadeus von Savoyen, Herzog der Abruzzen. Der Ruwenzori, Erforschung und erst Ersteigung seiner höchsten Gipfel. Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1909. Mit 190 von Vittorio Sella aufgenommenen Abbildungen, darunter 35 ganszseitige Bildern und 4 Panoramen, sowie 4 Karten.
- 8.Mantovani, Roberto. K2: Challenging the Sky. White Star Editions. 41. 2004. 978-88-540-0116-9.
- 9.Joanna Wright and Robin Lenman, "Mountain Photography". In The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; ).
- 10.Rwenzori Abruzzi Centenary Celebrations. Vittorio Sella. 2006.
- 11.Flowers of the Moon, Afroalpine vegetation of the Rwenzori Mountains , Schutyser S., 2007, 5 Continents Editions, .
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Summit: Vittorio Sella: Pioneer Mountaineering Photographer, 1879–1909. Aperture Foundation, U.S., 1999,
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Getty Union List of Artist Names 500304549, Istituto Nazionale di Fotografia Alpina Vittorio Sella.The Getty Research Institute
Partially resolvedreference work
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Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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