Street Art Firenze
Original oil painting by Matthew Holden Bates.
Street Art Firenze - oil on canvas by Matthew Holden Bates.
Florence, Italy.
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About This Painting
Street Art Firenze is another painting connected to the Ponte Santa Trinita, this time focusing on a detail of the statue of La Primavera looking toward the Ponte Vecchio. The painting frames Florence through sculpture, bridge, river, and distance.
The figure of La Primavera becomes almost like a silent observer of the city. Seen in relation to the Ponte Vecchio, she links mythology, public sculpture, and the everyday life of Florence into one concentrated image.
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. It is a Florence painting about looking: a statue looking toward a bridge, and the viewer looking through the painting back into the city.