The Bridge at Salamanca, Spain, Peninsular War, Antique Engraving, 1817

About this sheet

This antique engraving of the bridge at Salamanca shows the long arched Roman bridge over the river Tormes leading up to the hill town and its cathedral, an original Peninsular War view of Spain published in London by Thomas Kelly in 1817. The plate is lettered "The bridge at Salamanca" with the imprint "London Pubd by Thomas Kelly, Paternoster Row", dated February 1817.

Salamanca, in the region of Castile and León, is famous for its ancient university and its two cathedrals, and its Roman bridge has carried traffic across the Tormes for almost two thousand years. The city was the scene of one of Wellington's greatest victories, the Battle of Salamanca of July 1812, when the Anglo Portuguese army defeated Marshal Marmont's French forces a few miles to the south. For British readers only a few years later, a view of Salamanca carried strong associations with that triumph.

Kelly published a group of Spanish and Portuguese views in 1817, among them Mafra, Punhete and the bridge over the Nissa, and these are probably plates from a Kelly history of the Peninsular War issued in parts. The exact title of the book has not been verified, so the plate is described here as published by Kelly. No engraver is named. The print is an uncoloured line engraving with a clear rendering of the many arches of the bridge and the skyline beyond.

This Salamanca engraving will appeal to collectors of Spanish topography, Roman bridges and the history of the Peninsular War. It would display well in a simple black or walnut frame with a cream mount, and forms a natural set with the other Peninsular views in this folio.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and scattered fine specks of foxing in the margins; the image itself is clean and strong.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.