Gezicht op een deel van de Ponte Rotto, te Rome 1648 - 1712

This is an anonymous print of a section of the Ponte Rotto in Rome. Without knowing the artist, we can still consider the artistic and cultural contexts that inform the work. Images of ruins like this one, often focus on themes of decline and the passage of time. What does it mean to capture something falling apart? This interest can be seen as part of the broader eighteenth and nineteenth-century obsession with ruins, which were deeply connected to ideas of history, memory, and national identity. These kinds of images became popular souvenirs for tourists, who were often wealthy, white, European men. We might consider how the tourist gaze romanticized these ruins, turning them into aesthetic objects disconnected from the social realities of the people who lived around them. The visual representation of the bridge and its surroundings raises questions about whose perspectives are included or excluded. The Ponte Rotto, literally the broken bridge, might evoke feelings of loss and decay, but it also symbolizes resilience as it continues to function despite its damaged state.