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Lot Essay
Constructed between 179 and 142 BC, the Ponte Rotto was originally called the Pons Aemilius. After falling into ruin, it was rebuilt and restored in 1575, but in 1590 it once again collapsed. Its truncated form appealed to many of the Dutch draughtsmen studying in Rome in the early 17th Century and the present drawing, like two sheets in the Rijksmuseum, has traditionally been given to Jan Asselijn (circa 1610-1652), who executed numerous drawings and paintings of the bridge (Steland, op. cit., nos. 11 and 144; see also P. Schatborn, Drawn to Warmth: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Artists in Italy, exhib. cat., Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2001, p. 105, fig. G). However, although the present drawing bears a monogram ‘JA’ and an inscription of Asselijn’s name, its style cannot be connected with Asselijn's certain drawings, such as those for three series of etchings by Gabriel Pérelle (1604-1677) made in Paris circa 1644 (for example Steland, op. cit., nos. 71-2, 78-9, and 139-40; Schatborn, op. cit., p. 102, fig. A).
The present sheet does, however, show similarities to certain drawings by Jan Worst. Most of the surviving drawings known by this artist were executed in France in around 1655, but Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719) recorded that Worst had spent some time in Rome, where he became a great friend of Johannes Lingelbach (1622-1674). The latter is documented in the Eternal City between 1644 and 1650, giving an indication of the date of Worst's visit. There are a few other Roman views known by him, such as the View of the Aurelian Wall in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, the Road past Roman ruins in the Staatliche Museen, Kassel, the View of Nero's aqueduct and the gate of Dolabella in the Groninger Museum, and the Landscape with a view of Rome in the Courtauld Institute, London (Schatborn, op. cit., pp. 128-30, figs. A and C, and 208, notes 2-6). None of these are dated, but some of his French landscapes are dated in July 1655 and January 1656, along with descriptions of the places shown (see S. Alsteens and H. Buijs, Paysages de France, exhib. cat., Paris, Fondation Custodia, 2008, nos. 92-4). These French views offer some striking similarities to the present drawing: in the Rocks in a river near the Chartreuse in France, possibly made from life, the rocks are rendered in a very comparable manner to those in the foreground of the present drawing (Groningen, Groninger Museum; Alsteens and Buijs, op. cit., no. 94). They differ markedly from the more variegated rocks seen in Asselijn's design for a print of of The waterfall and the temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli by Gabriel Pérelle (1604-1677; the drawing is in Rome, Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe; Steland, op. cit., no. 136).
Some zigzag hatching is visible in the outlines of the small trees near the house on the right of the Ponte Rotto in the present drawing. Such marks are uncharacteristic of Asselijn, but abundantly present in the background of Worst’s drawing of the Rocks in a river in Groningen. The vertical hatching used in the houses on the verso of the present sheet is also alien to Asseljin's draughtsmanship, though rare even in Worst’s drawings, and the same goes for the rather loosely-drawn vegetation on the bank at the left on the recto. The houses on the far bank of the river compare well with those in a drawing of The Tour des Valois and the bridge in Vienne, near Lyon, drawn by Worst on 14 July 1655 (Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; Alsteens and Buijs, op. cit., no. 92). The way the river Rhône is delineated in that drawing, with fine horizontal lines of the brush, is closely comparable to the manner in which the Tiber is represented on both sides of the present drawing. In a delightful addition, the artist has used the untouched paper, silhouetted with wash, to indicate the kneeling figure of a man, wearing a hat, beside the rocks in the foreground.
We are grateful to Peter Schatborn for suggesting the new attribution to Worst.
The present sheet does, however, show similarities to certain drawings by Jan Worst. Most of the surviving drawings known by this artist were executed in France in around 1655, but Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719) recorded that Worst had spent some time in Rome, where he became a great friend of Johannes Lingelbach (1622-1674). The latter is documented in the Eternal City between 1644 and 1650, giving an indication of the date of Worst's visit. There are a few other Roman views known by him, such as the View of the Aurelian Wall in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, the Road past Roman ruins in the Staatliche Museen, Kassel, the View of Nero's aqueduct and the gate of Dolabella in the Groninger Museum, and the Landscape with a view of Rome in the Courtauld Institute, London (Schatborn, op. cit., pp. 128-30, figs. A and C, and 208, notes 2-6). None of these are dated, but some of his French landscapes are dated in July 1655 and January 1656, along with descriptions of the places shown (see S. Alsteens and H. Buijs, Paysages de France, exhib. cat., Paris, Fondation Custodia, 2008, nos. 92-4). These French views offer some striking similarities to the present drawing: in the Rocks in a river near the Chartreuse in France, possibly made from life, the rocks are rendered in a very comparable manner to those in the foreground of the present drawing (Groningen, Groninger Museum; Alsteens and Buijs, op. cit., no. 94). They differ markedly from the more variegated rocks seen in Asselijn's design for a print of of The waterfall and the temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli by Gabriel Pérelle (1604-1677; the drawing is in Rome, Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe; Steland, op. cit., no. 136).
Some zigzag hatching is visible in the outlines of the small trees near the house on the right of the Ponte Rotto in the present drawing. Such marks are uncharacteristic of Asselijn, but abundantly present in the background of Worst’s drawing of the Rocks in a river in Groningen. The vertical hatching used in the houses on the verso of the present sheet is also alien to Asseljin's draughtsmanship, though rare even in Worst’s drawings, and the same goes for the rather loosely-drawn vegetation on the bank at the left on the recto. The houses on the far bank of the river compare well with those in a drawing of The Tour des Valois and the bridge in Vienne, near Lyon, drawn by Worst on 14 July 1655 (Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; Alsteens and Buijs, op. cit., no. 92). The way the river Rhône is delineated in that drawing, with fine horizontal lines of the brush, is closely comparable to the manner in which the Tiber is represented on both sides of the present drawing. In a delightful addition, the artist has used the untouched paper, silhouetted with wash, to indicate the kneeling figure of a man, wearing a hat, beside the rocks in the foreground.
We are grateful to Peter Schatborn for suggesting the new attribution to Worst.