The bridge was a popular feature in painting throughout the period from 1700 to 1920, but why did so many artists choose to portray the structures? This study traces the history of the bridge in painting and printmaking through a range of works, including William Etty's The Bridge of Sighs, Claude Monet's The Railway Bridge, Wassily Kandinsky's Composition IV and C.R.W. Nevinson's Looking Through Brooklyn Bridge, revealing its complex role as both symbol and metaphor, and as a place of vantage, meeting and separation.