Etienne Duval
The Valley of the River Gardon, near Nîmes, with the Pont du Gard in the distance
Oil on board, signed with initial lower right
Image size: 8 3/4 x 16 1/4 inches (22 x 41 cm)
Original gilt frame
The Pont du Gard is an ancientRoman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over thirty-one miles to the Roman colony ofNemausus, now Nimes. It crosses the river Gardon near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in Southern France. The Pont du Gard is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges, as well as one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites in 1985 because of its historical importance.
Etienne Duval
Duval studied painting with Alexandre Diday, a landscape painter. In his paintings one finds his love for the calm of the landscape and the distant horizons.
As an Orientalist he made his first trip to Egypt in 1869, where he followed the course of the Nile. He made a second trip in 1874 with his painter friend Louis Auguste Veillon. He made a last trip to Egypt in 1883.
