What’s Rome Known For?

What’s Rome Known For?

Of course we all know and associate the eternal city with its most famous sites, but when I think of Rome visions of pine trees swim in my head.Morning Pines, Parco degli Acquedotti6×8″Oil on Linen Panel©Kelly MedfordDid you ever watch the HBO series Rome? I loved every minute of that series and what I still think of when remembering it are the pines lining the roads leading to Rome.Do you think they were planted in these rows even during ancient Roman times? Yes, in fact they were. And do you know why?Pine nuts! (think pesto here)The Greeks and Romans (and even Etruscans) planted these Stone Pines in order to collect the pine nuts, which are still highly prized even today.They also give wonderful shade in the hot summer, creating an enormous shadow that is perfect to relax under.These trees in Rome are mostly found along the tops of hills or in parks, but in some neighborhoods, they even line the streets. To give you a sense of the presence of these trees, their average height is somewhere between 30-65 feet high, but can grow up to 80 feet- now that’s a tree.I’ll leave you with Roman poet and composer Ottorino Respighi’s 4 part symphonic poem The Pines of Rome. I’ve only included the 4th part as it is the most pertinent to today’s painting. This is called Pines of the Appian way, where I painted this while looking into the morning sun.

Thank you for following Adventures in Paining!See or buy today’s painting here on the websiteSee all other paintings from the 120 Day project herePaint Italy en Plein Air Upcoming WorkshopsArt of the Painted Sketch: August 21-281-week in an Umbrian villa eating, swimming, relaxing and learning the art of the oil sketchClick here for detailsThe Light and Life of Venice: October 12-20Explore and capture Italy’s most magical and mysterious city in paintClick here for details