Jan Van de Velde may never have seen the Isola Tiberina when he copied this view from a print by another Dutch artist. The island in the middle of the Tiber was once dedicated to Aesculapius, the god of medicine, whose temple was built there in 293 B.C. On top of its ruins was built the 10th-century church of San Bartolomeo, of which only the campanile (visible above the other buildings in the print) remains in its original medieval form. Since 1548, most of the island has been taken up by the hospital of the Fatebenefratelli. Joining the island to the left bank of the Tiber is the Ponte Fabricio (62 B.C.). The Ponte Cestio (also 1st century B.C.) joins the island to the right bank. At the far right of this print, the Ponte Rotto (Broken Bridge) can be seen. Completed in 142 B.C., it was the first stone bridge over the Tiber. All but a single arch was washed away in floods in the 16th century.
