Le décintrement du pont de Neuilly, le 22 septembre 1772 1772 - 1775

Hubert Robert painted “Le décintrement du pont de Neuilly, le 22 septembre 1772” in oil on canvas to commemorate a pivotal moment in French engineering. The painting captures the careful removal of the timber centring from the arches of the bridge at Neuilly. It invites us to consider the social implications of technological advancement. In eighteenth-century France, architecture and engineering were expressions of royal power, and monuments like the Pont de Neuilly were powerful symbols of progress and national pride. Here, the crowd is a vital element in the composition. This engineering feat was a public spectacle, and, by representing the crowd, Robert underscores the bridge's connection to the people it was designed to serve. To fully understand this painting, we might delve into the archives of the École des Ponts et Chaussées, the institution responsible for training engineers in France, and examine contemporary accounts of the bridge's construction. Doing so allows us to interpret art not as isolated objects, but as products of specific historical and institutional contexts.