Ponte Loreto near Nettuno

Thomas Jones

by 1787 · Oil on paper, laid down on canvas · European Paintings

This painting is the definitive visual record of a sketching excursion undertaken on May 1, 1777. Jones’s diary entry for that day recounts how he and a small party descended from the Alban Hills, seen in the background, initially to draw in Civita Lavinia (Lanuvio), the hill town in the middle distance. Narrowly avoiding a scrape with an intemperate dog and a clutch of stone-wielding children, the company followed the road out of town until they reached the ancient Roman bridge seen in the foreground, which they sketched before returning to their "head quarters" in the village of Genzano.

Artist

Thomas Jones

Date

by 1787

Medium

Oil on paper, laid down on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009