Jean-Joseph-Xavier BIDAULD (Carpentras 1758 -... Lot 45

Jean-Joseph-Xavier BIDAULD (Carpentras 1758 - Montmorency 1846) View of the medieval bridge of Narni Paper mounted on canvas. Signed and dated lower left: Jph. Bidauld 1789. Inscriptions on the back: 1836 1200 f JP. 26,5 x 33 cm Composed of an access ramp, a toll tower and five arches, the medieval bridge of Narni (Umbria) succeeded the ancient bridge of Augustus, located next door on the Nera, when it fell into ruin. It was bombed in 1944. During his five-year stay in Italy (1785-1790), Bidauld stayed in Narni and painted several views of the city, one of which is preserved in the Amiens museum. In another painting sold in New (Christie's, January 26, 2005, lot 80 and Sotheby's, June 8, 2017, lot 77) we can see the medieval bridge, the subject of our of our little study, in the background behind the broken arch of Augustus' bridge. The location is one of the stops for travelers on the Grand Tour. This bridge has been represented by many French landscape painters (Michallon; Corot, sketch in the Louvre Museum, RF 1613) Louvre, RF 1613), English and Danish (Lunde, Palm). It is particularly highlighted on the right of Turner's Pilgrimage of Childe Harold by Turner (1832, London, Tate Britain). At Bidauld's death, Corot declared: "I admire him, me, particularly, Bidauld, and I respect him; for, behold I owe him a lot, if not the best of my own business. Our painting could correspond to the lot n° 24 of the sale after Bidauld's death of March 25 and 26, 1847 : Small study near Narni.