The Bridge of San Paolo

Jacob Philipp Hackert would flee Naples in 1799 following the Napoleonic occupation, but in the golden early 1790s, this German Romantic landscape painter was deeply enamored with the contours and history of southern Italy. Hackert’s view of the bridge of San Paolo bears witness to the importance of place in its characteristically specific inscription, deftly nestled into the inviting upward path. He signed and dated the work 1793 and noted that the view shows the remains of the ancient Roman Via Latina, granting a greater immediacy and a historical depth to the scene.