The Broken Bridge at Narni

The Broken Bridge at Narni
The Broken Bridge at Narni
The Broken Bridge at Narni
Plymouth City Council (Arts and Heritage)
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Broken Bridge at Narni
Date
Undated
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 40 x 70 cm
Imperial: 15 3/4 x 27 9/16 in.
Accession Number
1975.20.
Wilson Online Reference
P66D
Provenance
Lady Beryl Gilbert, Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire; Christie's 8 February 1918 (152), bt Agnew; 1924 sold to Arthur Meyer; 1975, bt by Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
Subject
The bridge was built in the first century A.D. and carried the Via Flaminia north from Rome across the Nera River, which flowed at the foot of the ancient town of Narnia, later called Narni. By the 18th century the bridge had long been a ruin, with only one of its three massive arches remaining, together with the bases of the two others.
Related Prints
E72/27 Thomas Hastings Untitled (Landscape Capriccio on the Via Aemilia), The British Museum (1854,0708.84) and other impressions
Related Works by Other Artists
This is closely related to Claude Lorrain's Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, 1663, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, in Wilson's day at the Palazzo Colonna, Rome
Critical commentary
A strong visual message of the work is the history of declining ancient civilisation and its potential application to eighteenth-century Britain.
Bibliography
WGC, pl. 90a
Link to WG Constable Archive Record