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Boneys Broken Bridge

June 12, 1809
Not on view
A scene with Napoleon standing on a river bank at left, pointing to the fragments of a stone bridge. One of his officers bows towards him and says, "With all due defference to your little Majesty—it was the Austrian Fire Boats that destroyed the Bridge." Napoleon responds, "Ah! who is it that dares contradict me, I say it was some floating timber, and the high swell of the river, that Caused the Shocking Accident." Austrian soldiers are gathered across the river at right, with the Archduke Charles on his horse beside them. They sing a parody of the nursery rhyme on London Bridge:
"Boneys Bridge is broken down
Dance over the Lady Lea
Boneys Bridge is broken down
By an Arch-Duke—ee"

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Boneys Broken Bridge
  • Artist: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Publisher: Rudolph Ackermann, London (British, active 1794–1832)
  • Subject: Napoléon Bonaparte (French, Ajaccio 1769–1821 St. Helena)
  • Subject: Archduke Karl Duke of Teschen (Austrian, 1771–1847)
  • Published in: London
  • Date: June 12, 1809
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 10 in. × 14 1/8 in. (25.4 × 35.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.533.1291
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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