La Salita, View of the Vittoriano

La Salita, View of the Vittoriano

La Salita, View of the Vittoriano, oil on panel, 10×12″This is a secret magic spot. It’s one of those places that one always hopes to find, especially when wandering around a new and unknown city.A friend brought me here by accident one day (we missed our turn), and I’ve gone back many times since. It’s right in the center, a steep, old walled road with the hand hewn and layed stones that Rome is famous for. It leads to the river at the bottom and to a park overlooking the center of Rome at the top. Hardly anyone passes this way and there is a group of homeless people living in the shrubs along the protected side of the wall.I had the chance to talk with a woman when I was painting here one day. She was shouting at me in Italian that she knew that I was some kind of secret spy because only spies that want to destroy this treasure of a place hang around as long as I was. By her accent I could tell that she was American. I spoke to her in English and she stormed off and I kept painting. After a little bit she changed her mind and came back and we talked for a long time.She is American and she is homeless and has been living in Rome for over 30 years. I don’t know anything more about her, but I do know that she is the self-appointed guardian of this ancient little road. Rome is full of these places, it’s incredible. Another day when I was painting in this spot and older Italian man stopped to tell me that he has lived in Rome almost 50 years and this is the first time he ever walked down this old road. He didn’t understand how he missed it all these years. How lucky that I found it after only 3 months!To view this painting or buy it from my website, click hereTo see other paintings from the When In Rome project, click here