Benzinaio, Porta Portese

Benzinaio, Porta Portese

Il Benzinaio, Porta Portese12×10″Oil on Panel© Kelly Medford, 2011A painting of a gas station, an unlikely composition to choose you might say. I thought so too. Porta Portese is one of the most fabulous places in Rome and is most known for its huge flea market on Sunday mornings.Next to this gas station is the ancient door, an opening in the Janiculum walls running from the hill down to the river here, where this used to be one of Rome’s major ports. Although the port was destroyed in the building of the high river bank walls, you still get the sense of the port from the abandoned warehouses running along the river.I stood on the corner thinking to paint the door, but looking to the gas station with the bouganville climbing the red sign post, I knew that this had to be the painting.As luck would have it I set up under a tree next to one of Rome’s free water fountains or “nasone”, where people came in a continuous stream to drink and fill their bottles. I realized what an integral part of life these fountains are for Romans. Workmen walked over to wash their hands, business men in suits jumped off of their scooters to stoop and get a drink and everyone in between, I was truly amazed by this and appreciated once again the unique city that Rome truly is.No one seemed to take notice of someone doing a painting of the gas station, except one man who stopped to get water and after looking and contemplating for several minutes advised me on painting less modern scenes in the future in order to really capture the true sense of Rome. My sentiments are with him and sometimes I wish that Rome looked like a Corot painting from the 19th century, but alas we are in another time and I like capturing Rome as it is today. In some small way I also like the idea of building on a past tradition.