Ponte dei Sospiri
Carlo Ponti
Description
Subject Matter:
This photograph depicts a view looking down a canal in the Northern Italian city of Venice. Spanning across and connecting the two buildings on either side of the water is an covered bridge made of white limestone. Adorned with symmetrical motifs, the baroque-style bridge is ornate and regal, and has two barred windows in its face. The building on the left is lined with tall, arching windows and capitals, while the building on the right is shorter and unembellished. On the left side of the canal standing on a stone embankment are two men, who regard the camera from a distance. Docked along their side of the canal are a series of gondolas.
The bridge is known as the Bridge of Sighs, and it connects the interrogation rooms within the Doge’s Palace to the prison on the other side of the canal. This melancholic name is derived from the walk that sentenced prisoners would take as they headed to their cells, where through the barred windows of the bridge, they they would catch a last glimpse of Venice and the outside world.
Physical Description:
This photograph depicts a view of a canal lined with stone buildings; an ornate covered-bridge spans the water, connecting the structures on either side. Two men stand on an embankment to which a series of gondolas are docked.
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