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At first sight De Heusch's painting seems to represent the Tiber with the so-called Ponte Rotto, the ruins of the ancient Pons Aemilius, as it appeared until the nineteenth century from the eastern bank of the river at the level of the Isola Tibertina. To this day there are still remains of the bridge in the river. On closer inspection, however, the topographical likeness is limited to the Ponte Rotto itself and the Roman church of San Salvatore de Pede Pontis behind the bridge. In reality the Tiber curves to the right at this point and in the bend one does not see the stump of a lonely tower but the small Temple of Vesta and the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, among others. The high mountain to the right behind the bridge is also imaginary, while the dome of St Peter's is actually located behind the spectator on the right.
Though De Heusch has several Roman panoramas to his credit yet he preferred to paint idealized landscapes in the manner of Claude Lorrain and Caspar Dughet. He furnished them with ruins and other architectural elements borrowed from his sketches of views in Rome and its surroundings. Even if no preparatory drawing or sketch for the exhibited painting has been preserved, the work is an excellent example of such idealized landscapes.
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