View of the Pont Neuf and of the Western Point of the Île de la Cité from the Banks of the Seine

Constructed in 1607, the Pont Neuf is today the oldest bridge in Paris. Loosely rendered figures in colorful clothes cross the bridge on foot and in a carriage, evoking the bustle of the city. Harpignies’s strategic placement of trees in the foreground reflects nature encroaching the urban landscape, while both revealing and obscuring the metropolitan scene in the background. The vantage point suggests the artist stood in what is now the jardin du Vert-Galant, the park on the far-western tip of the Île de la Cité.

Image Caption

Henri-Joseph Harpignies, View of the Pont Neuf and of the Western Point of the Île de la Cité from the Banks of the Seine, c. 1870, Oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, Acquired by the Clark, 2018.10.2