Turin, Italy - 1868 - The photograph we propose today is that of "Don Bosco with a suffering face". This photo was taken in Turin by Michele Rondoni (Fotografia Alfieri) in 1868 and was called the photograph of "Don Bosco with skullcap". The image shows a constructed pose, rigid in posture, with little vitality and spontaneity, contrary to what the Father and Teacher of Youth was. It seems that Don Bosco is absent, but in reality it is the photo of the "most afflicted and suffering face" of the Piedmontese saint, taken after an illness.

Turin, Italy - 1886 - Don Bosco had a well-proportioned face. His gaze spoke. His face communicated and knew how to convey serenity and joy to all those around him. The photo we show was taken in Sampierdarena, Genoa, on March 16, 1886, by Gustavo Luzzati. Don Bosco was 71 years old at the time. According to scholars, in this photo, Don Bosco shows a serene and friendly smile and the tender and affectionate gaze of a father.

Turin, Italy - 1880 - The photograph that we propose is a work of art by the photographer Michele Schemboche, portraying Don Bosco seated in an armchair, taken in Turin in 1880. It is interesting to note that this image was the best known and most used throughout history and probably corresponds to the most solemn representation of Don Bosco. The photo, with a few modifications, has in fact become the official image of the Beatification and then of the Canonization of Don Bosco. Indeed, the painter A. Enrie was inspired by it. While corresponding to the iconography of the time, it did not however coincide with the image that Don Bosco had left imprinted in the eyes and hearts of his boys and those who had known him: of an affable, gentle priest, always with a smile on his face.