Mercato di San Lorenzo
Original oil painting by Matthew Holden Bates.
Mercato di San Lorenzo - oil on canvas by Matthew Holden Bates.
Florence, Italy.
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About This Painting
This painting depicts the Mercato di San Lorenzo in Florence, one of the city’s most active and recognizable market areas. The scene captures the rhythm of daily life around the stalls, where fabric, leather, shadows, architecture, and passing figures gather into a dense urban moment.
San Lorenzo has a different character from the grand piazzas and monumental views of Florence. It is busy, practical, colorful, and full of movement. In this painting, the market becomes a living street theater, where ordinary commerce and historic surroundings exist side by side.
Like many of my cityscape paintings, this work began with direct observation and photography, then developed slowly in the studio through drawing, composition, and layers of oil paint. The vertical format emphasizes the compression of the street and the layered experience of walking through Florence.