Pompey's Bridge at Terni

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Artist

James Gandon (1742-1823) after Wilson

Title

Pompey's Bridge at Terni

Date

Published 29 January 1776

Medium

Etching

Dimensions

Metric: 214 x 168 mm
Imperial: 8 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.

Collection

The British Museum. To license image, click here

Accession Number

1863,0725.630

Wilson Online Reference

E41D

Description

Oblique view of an old stone bridge with four figures, two reaching over the side and the others in the right foreground. Behind is a square tower with adjoining buildings and beyond, a mountain.

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 with the title and 'R. Wilson del., Ja. Gandon sc. | Published Jan: 29 1776 by John Boydell Engraver in Cheapside London.'

Subject

The architect Domenico Fontana (1543-1607) was appointed to build a new bridge at Terni to replace a dangerous older one over the River Nera. Pope Paul V inaugurated this in 1611 and his arms appear in the centre of the bridge together with inscriptions recording that the people of Terni replaced the original, ruined by age, at their own expense and named the new bridge Ponte Paolo in his honour. The bridge was rebuilt after the bombardment of the Second World War.

Critical commentary

Terni was one of the last stops on Wilson's journey from Venice to Rome in the company of William Lock in 1751-52. (See for example D61 The Cascade at Terni, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven). However, no related drawing or painting of the bridge by Wilson is known.

Bibliography

Edwards 1808, p. 88; T.J. Mulvany, The Life of James Gandon, Esq. 1846, facsimile reprint ed. M. Craig, 1969, pp. 191-92

Pompey's Bridge at Terni

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