Ponte Nomentano, Campagna Romana

Abandoning a judgeship in Algiers because of ill health, Firmin-Eugène Le Dien learned paper negative photography from Gustave Le Gray in Paris and went on a Grand Tour of Italy in 1852–53. He often explored the rural countryside around Rome, including this picturesque view centered on the winding Aniene River. Carrying his equipment over three miles northeast of the city wall, Le Dien captured the medieval tower added to the old Roman arches of the Nomentano Bridge, visible on the right.