The Bridge of Sighs

A topographical cabinet card showing a view of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

Built of white limestone in 1600, the bridge passes over the Rio di Palazzo, connecting the New Prison with the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. The bridge got its name, 'Ponte dei Sospiri' in Italian, from the legend that prisoners crossing it would sigh when glimpsing their final view of the beautiful city.

Photographed by Carlo Ponti of Venice.

Carlo Ponti studied photography in Paris in the 1840s. In 1852, he obtained a license to produce and sell photographs in Venice. He ran the first of the big photographic businesses in the city, producing albums with architectural views of great artistic sensitivity. He was also the inventor of camera lenses suitable for panoramic photography.