Pompey's Bridge at Terni

Pompey's Bridge at Terni
Pompey's Bridge at Terni
Pompey's Bridge at Terni
Royal Academy of Arts, London
title=Credit line
Artist
James Gandon (1742-1823) after Wilson
Title
Pompey's Bridge at Terni
Date
1776 (undated)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Metric: 196 x 155 mm
Imperial: 7 3/4 x 6 1/8 in.
Accession Number
PL003848
Wilson Online Reference
E41B
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
Acquired by 1802
Signature/inscription
Lettered below the image with title and production detail: 'R. Wilson del.', 'Ja. Gandon sc.'
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
More Information
Bound in a 19th century volume with Charles Hullmandel's lithographic 24 Views of Italy, 1818
Condition/Conservation
Some discoloured spotting