Oh So Rome

Oh So Rome

What do you think of when you think of Rome, The Colosseum, The  Roman Forum, La Dolce Vita and The Trevi Fountain?

For me it is more something just like or similar to this scene at Porta Maggiore where old and new meet.

portamaggiore96dpi

The Green Tram, Porta Maggiore
12 x 16″
Oil on Linen
$1,050 Available

Purchase Now

Porta Maggiore is the east gate to Rome and one of the most beautiful and best preserved in the city. Romans don’t seem to notice much though since it is also a major traffic hub with cars and scooters racing by along with trams and two trains and pedestrians attempting to cross at various points. This place is clogged with traffic at all hours of the day and night.

This big white marble gate was built in 52 AD by the emperor Claudius and is supporting the intersection for 2 aqueducts Acqua Claudia and Anio Novus. You can see that these were laid out one on top of the other even in the painting at the cross section on top and the entire thing is made of the local travertine marble.

I cross through this gate or intersection every single day and every day I love watching the play of light and shadows here. It seems like a beauty that goes by unnoticed and appreciated, so I have stopped to paint and sketch it many times.

This painting took me many hours, coming back day after day to develop the painting. I spent the most time working to get the drawing right and waiting for the green tram to come around and stop here, having just a few minutes to capture it before it sped off around the corner.

There was just a narrow piece of sidewalk wide enough for me to set up my easel and stand, with the tram whizzing by just at my shoulder.

I came to know some of the tram drivers, who each time they came around and passed by me would lean out the window to comment- “oh, it’s coming along” or even “what are you painting, that old door? Why?!”. But it was fun to have them watch the painting develop over time and to have this entertaining interaction.

I also wanted to capture these old green trams since the city is slowing phasing them out for the newer version (complete with wi-fi and air conditioning and much more civilized), but the nostalgia of these green trams are classically Rome to me and what you see in old movies from the 1960s.

This is one of my favorite and more “Roman” paintings done recently and is oh so Rome.