Csontváry Kosztka tested ways of portraying nature one after the other, including naturalism, objective approach and subjective portrayal of images. He never selected subject matters at a random. Wherever he wandered, he visited places where nature and remains of ancient cultures produced catharsis in the viewer.
Csontváry spent spring 1903 in Herzegovina and Bosnia. Spring in Mostar and Roman Bridge in Mostar were inspired by Mostar itself. The view of a bridge over the Neretva, a river of emerald colour water, recalls a dream. Its desolation and silence without a person around symbolise the loneliness and solitude of the artist who attempts to make preterhuman efforts. It is all vain to stick to topographic fidelity or to amalgamate two different approaches in order to create a characteristic picture: the world of fantasy defeats objectivity and the peculiar atmosphere of contours lures one to dream.
The bridge, which took 9 years to build from 1556, was exploded in a flash at the end of the 20th century. Csontváry Kosztka was wrong to term it Roman as it was built by Hairudin, a famous Turkish architect. The waterfall, another typical motif of the picture, had a more important role in the view of Jajce. In fact, Csontváry often painted waterfalls. The immense power of water, this element, falling from above, served as a symbol of nature.