Michael ‘Angelo’ Rooker (1743-1801) was born in London and trained with his father, Edward Rooker, and Paul Sandby, the latter of whom gave him his nickname. He worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines and as chief scene-painter at the Haymarket Theatre, but also exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. From 1788 he made regular autumn tours of various areas of Britain, which provided material for most of his watercolours. Bridge of Llangollen derives from the first of these tours, to Denbighshire; it depicts the 16th-century bridge over the River Dee, a celebrated landmark. The watercolour’s large size, ambitious composition and high degree of finish suggests that Rooker intended it for exhibition.