"Landscape with bridge in the Roman campagna" oil on canvas 19th cent
A very fine oil painting on canvas representing a landscape in the roman campagna with a view of Ponte Salario, destroyed by the French in 1849, within the original Restoration period gilt wood frame with foliate decoration.
Probably a french or german painter from the beginning of 19th century, 1830's
Dimension cm 25 x 35.
Excellent condition commensurate with age.
Ponte Salario or Salario Bridge
Over the centuries the bridge was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt: it suffered serious damage at the hands of Totila in 544 AD. and in 565 AD it was restored by the Byzantine general Narsete.
Through the Salario bridge, the ancient pons Anienis, along the Via Salaria you could cross the Aniene at the point where the river flowed with the Tiber.
The Roman bridge is mentioned by Tito Livio for the first time in 394 BC. about the invasion of the Gauls.
As evidence of this reconstruction, he had two epigraphs on the parapets of which the text remained.In the Early Middle Ages, a defensive tower was built in the right half of the bridge, which was demolished in 1829.In 1849 the bridge was cut for 15 m. by the French and, after alternating vicissitudes, it was mined and destroyed in 1867 by the papal troops to hinder the Garibaldians. Subsequently, in 1874, it was rebuilt and in 1930 it was extended with jutting superstructures placed on special corbels.Of the ancient Roman structure, there are two minor minor arches on either side of the modern central arch.The bridge was originally constituted by a large central span with archivolt in travertine and two minor arches in blocks of tufa on each ramp.The structures currently conserved, probably dating back to the Republican age (end of the II - first half of the 1st century BC) are in cement works with splinters of tufa, while the visible facades are in blocks of tuff from Fidene.
