Paul-Alfred de CURZON (Migné-Auxances, near Poitiers,... Lot 34

Paul-Alfred de CURZON (Migné-Auxances, near Poitiers, 1820-Paris, 1895) View taken near the bridge of Narni (Italy) Oil on canvas signed lower right. Circa 1860. 32,5 x 45 cm. In a beautiful original gilt frame Pupil of Louis-Cabat, Alfred de Curzon obtained a second grand prix de Rome in 1849. At the Villa Medici, he became friends with Paul Baudry, William Bouguereau, and particularly with Charles Garnier, future architect of the Opera, with whom he made a trip to Greece. Back in France, Curzon will establish himself as one of the best painters of Italy and its landscapes, which he will represent with poetry in a style that sometimes evokes Corot. "I am so enchanted with this landscape that I believe it to be the most beautiful in Italy," wrote Alfred de Curzon in 1847 about Narni. Our view shows the medieval bridge that spanned the river Nera. Not far away, another bridge from the Roman period, called "Augustus' bridge" (not visible here), was immortalized by Corot. The arcades in the background on the right are those of the Formina aqueduct, another famous Roman monument.