During Leonardo’s time the landscapes often painted behind portraits were imaginary landscapes as can be seen in portraits by Hans Memling, Albrecht Dürer or Sandro Botticelli.  In the Mona Lisa, Leonardo combined a humanized landscape that included a bridge and a winding road painted in brown tones, with an imaginary mountainous landscape appearing blue and icy in the distance.

 

Distant Bridge references the humanized landscape framing Mona behind and to the right of her image.

 

The bridge along with its immediate surroundings have been lifted out of the painting and become three-dimensional and part of the local landscape.

In the painting the bridge spans a winding river, which is now suggested by a winding path of river stones. 

 

The scale of the three-dimensional bronze bridge invites the viewer to come and sit upon it and settle into the landscape drifting however briefly, into the 15th century. 

 

Like in the painting, the bridge sits among rocky hills and outcroppings that have now become 7 large boulders nested near and around the bridge.  The boulders range between 7 and 12 tons and are white dolomite sourced in Italy.

 

Distant Bridge, invites reverie and an opportunity to linger while pondering the local surroundings and perhaps speculating on ones place within it all.