Rome: The Ponte Sisto
by WITTEL, Caspar Andriaans van, Oil on canvas, 75 x 175 cm
Ponte Sisto is a bridge in Rome’s historic centre, spanning the river Tiber. The present bridge was constructed between 1473 and 1479 by the architect Baccio Pontelli. It was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84), after whom it is named. Pontelli reused the foundations of a prior Roman bridge, the Pons Aurelius, which had been destroyed during the early Middle Ages.