Anon. Bridge of Sighs, Venice after Samuel Prout

An original c.1830s watercolour painting Bridge of Sighs, Venice after Samuel Prout.

An exquisite miniature view looking along the Rio di Palazzo towards the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Beautifully hand-painted in watercolour, this tiny painting—just 5.5 x 3.5cm—by an unknown hand displays remarkable skill.

This watercolour is after a larger work by Samuel Prout (1783–1852) which was reproduced as an engraved plate in 'The Tourist in Italy and Switzerland' by Thomas Roscoe, published in 1830. Prout was a master of watercolour architectural painting, Painter in Water-Colours in Ordinary to King George IV and, later, to Queen Victoria. His picturesque topographical drawings found huge influence as lithographic reproductions in the various illustrated travel books that had become so popular.

This iconic view in Venice is celebrated in Roscoe's 'The Tourist in Italy': 'Amid the thousands of romantic associations with which Venice teems, there are none possessing a deeper or more engrossing interest than those which fill the heart of the traveller as he steps upon the Ponte dei Sospiri, or "Bridge of Sighs".'

On paper laid down on backing paper. Please note the small size of this artwork.