Category: Italy

Siena from the Loggia of the Palazzo Publico

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

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

Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, Italy

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.

The Senate in the Forum

Susan and I were hobbling back after a long day of walking around Rome. We walked along the Via dei Fori Imperiali looking for a bus. I looked right and saw the back of the Roman Senate in the forum right next to the baroque Chiesa di Santi Martina e Luca. The simple brick Senate building (the Curia) next to the elaborate church made a wonderful contrast between ancient Rome and counter-reformation Rome; and the pruned Roman pines made the whole scene much more graphically interesting.

Oil on canvas
36”w x 24”h

$950.

Temple of Aesculapius in the Pincio Park, Rome

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 Aesculapius in the park. It was built in the early twentieth century as an ornament for the little duck pond in front of it. It is actually just a temple front, with no building behind.

This is one of the many classical focal points in the park created in the early twentieth century as a green relief in very urban Rome.

Oil on canvas

36”w x 24”h

$950.

The Pantheon and Bernini’s Elephant

This is the back of the Pantheon, the Roman temple to all of the gods. It was consecrated as a church, Santa Maria Rotunda (or Chubby Saint Mary’s). The obelisk is from ancient Egypt and is mounted on a statue of an elephant by the great Baroque sculptor, Bernini. The courtyard is in front of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, or Saint Mary on top of Minerva.

Oil on canvas

24”w x 36”h

$950.