Yoshijiro Urushibara – Ruins of a Roman Bridge over the Loire at Brive-Charensac

Original woodblock print, hand-signed by the artist. First published before 1919.

This design has two versions, with the current version on offer being the smaller one and the other one being twice its size. It depicts the ruins of a bridge at Brives-Charensac in France. Though the title calls it a ‘Roman Bridge’, the bridge dates from 1210 and turned into ruins through the
centuries until only two of its original nine arches remained.

The basis for this design was a print by Frank Brangwyn. Interestingly, Urushibara removed the stormy sky present in that version and replaced it by the moon. This further added to the remarkable combination of an old European landscape being depicted in typical Japanese print style.

Image size (excluding margins): 24.2 * 36.0 cm (9.5 * 14.2 in).

The print is in very good state. On the back in the middle of the top margin there is a small remnant of a previous mounting.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

See an overview of Yoshijiro Urushibara's woodblock prints