cityscape Archives - Elan Zingman-Leith

Trajan’s Column near the Roman Forum

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Trajan’s Column was built in 113 A.D. at the edge of the Roman Forum to commemorate the Emperor Trajan’s victories over the Dacians in what is now Romania and its neighbors. What is so amazing is that it is still there, in the same place, looking much like it did two thousand years ago. It is the model for every memorial column put up ever since. A pope put a statue of Saint Peter on the top in the sixteenth century, but that didn’t have much effect. Susan and I were just returning from lunch in the café at the top of the Vittoriano, when we saw this scene from the front steps. It had rained several times that day and was about to pour again. The dark clouds that were coming out of the East were moving very fast.

Oil on canvas
24”w x 36”h

$950.

The Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum

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This is the Roman Forum as seen from the tabularium, which is the taller building at the Northern end of the forum. The triumphal arch at the South end of the Forum is the Arch of Titus, which was erected to celebrate the defeat of the Judeans and the looting of Jerusalem. From this view, the mass of the forum is a chaotic confusion of masonry and trees, with only the Arch of Titus clearly seen in the distance.

My aim was to capture the confusion of the middle ground and the clear white shape of the Arch of Titus. The stacked perspective is more like a medieval painting than like a modern one.

Oil on canvas
24”w x 36”h

$950.

The Aude River at Carcassonne, France

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Carcassonne is a castle town in southwestern France. In the 1200s, the Pope and the king of France massacred millions of Frenchmen in this area in the Albigensian Crusade. Though the history is terrible, Carcassonne is beautiful and like a fairyland version of the Middle Ages.
This is one of two small paintings of Carcassonne. I was trying to capture the otherworldly, medieval look of the town in late February.

Oil on canvas
16” x 20”

$750.

Temple of Diana in the Pincio Park, Rome

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The Pincio Park, or the gardens of the Villa Borghese, are the Rome equivalent of New York’s Central Park. We’d often sit in our favorite café in the park to write Rome Secrets or CityTravelBlog. This is the Temple of Diana in the park in the sun, with several picnickers on the lawn in the foreground in dappled shade.

I was interested in capturing the subject in bright light in the background, as it so often is in 18th and 19th century landscapes. The middle ground is alternately sunny and shaded, and the silhouetted tree in the foreground gives the composition depth and drama in a somewhat Japanese way. I often like a tree in the foreground as a way of dividing the canvas and giving drama to an otherwise calm landscape.

Oil on canvas

36”w x 24”h

$950.

Siena from the Loggia of the Palazzo Publico

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Siena is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It is composed of a series of ring shaped streets on a hilltop, with terra cotta and yellow ochre walls and roofs everywhere. It was one of the great competitors to Florence in the Middle Ages, and still has a gracious Medieval appearance composed of wonderful architecture and lots of money. This is the view from the town-hall tower on the Campo in the center of town. I’ll only go to this level, near the bottom of the tower because I’m afraid of heights.

In this painting, I tried to capture the complexity of the hundreds of planes and variety of terra cottas, all seen in the brilliant Tuscan sun. I used lots of linseed oil in the paint to get a fat, rich paint that would carry the intensity of the colors. I also painted it on a large canvas to show off the view.

30”w x 40” h

$1100.

San Andrea delle Valle, Rome, Italy

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This was the view from our window when we used to stay at the Hotel Pantaleone in Rome. The hotel was in a palazzo, but is gone now, and we rent our own apartment. We were on the top floor, in the cornice. If I leaned out the window, I could see the Chiesa de San Andrea delle Valle. It is one of the most spectacular Baroque churches in Rome, and therefore in the world. I think it’s great in the ‘smack you between the eyes’ way that Roman counter-reformation churches were. Looking down at the street, we could see the late afternoon sunlight and the gathering storm.

Oil on canvas

24”w x 30”h

$900

On the Palatine Hill in Rome

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The Palatine Hill is adjacent to the Roman Forum and is where the greats of ancient Rome built their palaces. The word palace actually comes from the name of the hill. Now, two thousand years later, it is a honeycomb of rooms in ruins with cave-like holes where the original outside walls were. A few rooms have survived and can be visited to see the wall paintings and the arrangements, but overall it is quite spooky.

The freestanding ruins and the medieval houses that were built out of the salvage are very vertical and very impressive. Susan is peeking over the wall, and a Chinese girl and her boyfriend with droopy trousers are in the foreground.

Oil on canvas
24”w x 36”h

$950.

Nocturne in Blue, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Cape May

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I had to visit the Acme supermarket early one winter morning to get eggs for the bed and breakfast. When I came out, I noticed the dark mass of Our Lady Star of the Sea across the parking lot. The pavement was wet and the dawn was dark and misty.
The scene reminded me of James McNeil Whistlers’ Nocturnes, especially those of the Houses of Parliament. He used to say he used his “special sauce” to get the liquid night effect. I guessed that his “special sauce” is glaze made of linseed oil and ultramarine blue – which is what I used.

Oil on canvas
20”w x 16”h

$750.

Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, Italy

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This is a view of the Santa Maria della Salute from the Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice, Italy, during Carnival. Susan always wanted to go to Carnivale in Venice, and one year, Easter was very early, so we could arrange Carnival in our schedule. We were staying in a hotel right on the Riva degli Schiavoni, recommended by a friend and neighbor in Cape May. Every morning, we’d go walking in our costumes, attracting lots of attention and having hundreds of Japanese tourists take their pictures with us. I went as a giant Turk and Susan went as an eighteenth century Frenchwoman.

My aim in this painting was to convey the crush of the crowd on the Riva degli Schiavoni and the other-worldliness of the pink light shining on the dome of the Salute. I used much more linseed oil than usual to make a rich, fat paint to carry intense color.

36”w x 24” h
Oil on canvas

$950.

Jardins de la Fontaine, Nimes, France

Nimes is a beautiful city in southern France. It has two world famous sites; the Vieux Carré, which is the most perfectly preserved Roman temple in the world, and the Arena, which is a Roman coliseum. We were wandering around the city, catching its other sites, and climbed through a park called the Jardins de la Fontaine. About halfway up to hill, I saw this scene, which seemed so quintessentially French, that I had to paint it.

My aim was to capture the long shadows creating violet stripes across the path and the Frenchness of the pink stucco house

Oil on canvas
28”w x 22”h

$850.