Ponte Dei Sosprili [The Bridge of Sighs]

Category

Library Item

Item no

24947

Title

Ponte dei Sosprili [The Bridge of Sighs]

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1893

Size

35.0 x 23.5 cm

Type

Photogravure

Location

Art and Design Library

Ferdinando Ongania [1842 - 1911] was an Italian antiquarian bookseller, with a shop in St. Mark's Square in Venice. From 1861 until his death in 1911 he devoted himself almost entirely to the printing of illustrated art books. His love of Venice inspired him to record the architecture of his beloved city.

The Bridge of Sighs is so called because it led from the Ducal Palace to the State prisons. The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Arches

Architecture > Architectural features > Doors and doorways

Landscape > Water > Canals

Places > Europe > Italy

Transport > Infrastructure > Bridges

Transport > Infrastructure > Canals

Transport > Water > Gondolas

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