Of course we all know and associate the eternal city with its most famous sites, but when I think of Rome visions of pine trees swim in my head.
6x8"
Oil on Linen Panel
©Kelly Medford
Did you ever watch the HBO series Rome? I loved every minute of that series and what I still think of when remembering it are the pines lining the roads leading to Rome.
Do you think they were planted in these rows even during ancient Roman times? Yes, in fact they were. And do you know why?
Pine nuts!
(think pesto here)
The Greeks and Romans (and even Etruscans) planted these Stone Pines in order to collect the pine nuts, which are still highly prized even today.
They also give wonderful shade in the hot summer, creating an enormous shadow that is perfect to relax under.
These trees in Rome are mostly found along the tops of hills or in parks, but in some neighborhoods, they even line the streets. To give you a sense of the presence of these trees, their average height is somewhere between 30-65 feet high, but can grow up to 80 feet- now that's a tree.
I'll leave you with Roman poet and composer Ottorino Respighi's 4 part symphonic poem The Pines of Rome. I've only included the 4th part as it is the most pertinent to today's painting. This is called Pines of the Appian way, where I painted this while looking into the morning sun.
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4 comments:
Just signed up for your blog. I feel like I have packed my bags and off for a wonderful adventure myself!! Thanks for allowing me to tag along. Would love to do something like this someday and good for you for just doing it!!!!
Hi Josephine and thank you for finding me here. I hope that you will enjoy the adventures and YES do come and paint in Italy!
What a wonderful post! I love the pines as well - they are like arboreal sculptures. I had never heard about the symphonic poem connection. Thank you. You gave me a bright spot in a challenging day!
Hi Carroll, so glad you enjoyed this one and I just couldn't resist the poem-symphony- that way maybe people would get the idea that it's not just me who is so enthusiastic about the pines of Rome...!
Thank you for following and for letting me know that you enjoyed this post, I appreciate it!
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