Bridge of Augustus at Rimini (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)

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Bridge of Augustus at Rimini (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Bridge of Augustus at Rimini (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Bridge of Augustus at Rimini (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
Joseph Farington (1747-1821) after Wilson
Title
Bridge of Augustus at Rimini (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Date
Published 29 January 1776
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Metric: 170 x 250 mm
Imperial: 6 11/16 x 9 7/8 in.
Accession Number
1863,0725.627
Wilson Online Reference
E38B
Description
Landscape with a bridge over the river in the centre. Three women are washing clothes on the bank in the foreground before woods and fences at the right, buildings at the left and a hill town in the far distance.
Provenance
John Kalergi (d. 1863); his sale, Sotheby's 24-25 July 1863; bt through Edward Daniell, 53 Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square, London, 1863
Signature/inscription
Lettered below the image:
[1] Upper left: R. Wilson del.
[2] Upper right: Jos. Farington sc.
[3] Centre: BRIDGE of AUGUSTUS at RIMINI.
[4] Lower centre: 'Published Jan: 29 1776 by John Boydell Engraver in Cheapside London.'
Subject
The Ponte d'Augusto, built by the Emperor Augustus, leads out of Rimini near the triumphal arch (also dedicated to him), across the River Marecchia, to the ancient Via Emilia, linking Rimini and Bologna. In the distance is the hill of the republic of San Marino.
Related Drawings
D41 The Bridge of Augustus at Rimini, 1751, Tate, London (T09277)
D41A The Bridge of Augustus at Rimini, 1751, Private Collection, England
D46 The Bridge of Augustus at Rimini, c.1751-52, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.47-1958)
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Paintings
P82 The Bridge of Augustus at Rimini, c.1758-59, Private Collection, Yorkshire
P82A The Bridge of Augustus at Rimini c.1758-59, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand (7-1947)
P82C Ascribed to Wilson, Bridge of Augustus at Rimini, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford (WA1931.1)
Critical commentary
The print differs from any known painting of the subject and was probably made directly from a drawing. Twelve Original Views in Italy was published by John Boydell as a compilation of etchings by different printmakers, produced over a number of years, after Wilson's drawings. Two of the etchers, Farington and Hodges, were Wilson's pupils. Farington executed this and one other in the series - E39 In the Strada Nomentana Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven and other impressions.
Bibliography
Edwards 1808, p. 88; WGC, p .212 under pl. 99a