View of the Ponte Lucano

Franz Knebel painted landscapes and view paintings in both oil and watercolour of well-known sites in and around Rome. The present picture depicts the Ponte Lucano, the point where the Via Tiburtina crosses the Aniene a few miles before Tivoli. Stretching across the banks of the Aniene River, the graceful five-arched bridge of Ponte Lucano connects past and present within a storied landscape. Dating from the 1st century B.C. and extending the ancient consular road of Via Tiburtina, Ponte Lucano served the road from Tivoli to Rome until the mid-20th century and remained in use for car traffic until just a few years ago.