Santa Trinita Revisited
Original oil painting by Matthew Holden Bates.
Santa Trinita Revisited - oil on canvas by Matthew Holden Bates.
Florence, Italy.
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About This Painting
Santa Trinita Revisited is one of my most iconic paintings of the Ponte Santa Trinita in Florence. Its unusually wide format gives the scene a panoramic rhythm, allowing the bridge, the Arno, the surrounding architecture, and the life of the city to unfold across the canvas.
The Ponte Santa Trinita has always fascinated me because of its elegance and restraint. It is a bridge that seems almost effortless, yet its proportions are deeply considered. In this painting, I wanted to revisit the subject with a wider, more expansive view, letting the river and the city stretch horizontally like a long visual phrase.
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 original painting has been sold, but prints remain available.