View of the Bridge and the Town of Cava, Kingdom of Naples

99: View of the Bridge and the Town of Cava, Kingdom of Naples

Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld
Carpentras 1758 - 1846 Montmorency

PD.32-2006: Fitzwilliam Museum
Rights held by: The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, bought from the Gow Fund

After receiving instruction from his brother, Jean-Pierre-Xavier Bidauld, and studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld began his career making copies of 17th-century Dutch landscapes. Encouraged by Claude-Joseph Vernet and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, he went to Italy in 1785 and remained there until his return to Paris in 1790. He was the first landscape painter elected to the Institut de France (which granted him a place on the Paris Salon jury) and a regular exhibitor at the Salon between 1791 and 1844. Bidauld was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1825.

Text written and researched by Michelle Bird National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Oil on paper, mounted on canvas
21.2 × 28.1 cm