The Ponte Rocco, Tivoli

Born in Carpentras in 1758, Bidauld, like many other French landscape painters of his generation, completed his training with a five year sojourn in Italy. There he executed numerous oil studies of the Roman and Neapolitan campagna, which inspired him throughout his career. His meticulously executed, evenly lit landscapes had instant success: he was the first artist to be elected to the Acadmie purely as a landscape painter; his patrons included King Louis XVIII of France, King Charles IV of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte and Caroline Murat.

A version, of larger dimensions, dated 1811, was with James Mackinnon, exhibited at the Mark Brady gallery, New York (Paintings and Sketches, 1780-1870, 6-21 May 1998, no. 5).