Alcantara Bridge, Toledo
1911
Medium
etching and drypoint
Dimensions
sheet: 18.5 × 25.3 cm (7 5/16 × 9 15/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5876
Art Historical Context
James McBey's *Alcantara Bridge, Toledo* (1911) captures the timeless grandeur of one of Spain's most iconic Roman engineering marvels. Perched over the Tagus River in Toledo, ancient Alcantara Bridge—built in the 2nd century AD—stands as a testament to imperial might, with its sturdy arches and triumphal archway. McBey, a Scottish artist renowned for his travels and printmaking prowess, visited Spain during this period, translating the bridge's dramatic silhouette against the river and sky into a masterful etching. Created amid the early 20th-century etching revival, the work reflects McBey's...
About the Artist
James McBey
James McBey (1883–1959) was a Scottish artist renowned for his etchings and paintings, emerging from humble beginnings in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, as the illegitimate son of a blacksmith's daughter. Largely self-taught, he left school at fifteen to work as a bank clerk in Aberdeen, where he devoured art books from the public library and attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art to hone his ...