This is another in a series of paintings I’ve done from sketches and photos taken in Italy a few years ago. We spent a day in the picturesque medieval city of Siena. The town spreads out from the central Piazza del Campo over the hilly Tuscan landscape. This particular view looks down on the tile roofs of homes and shops and up the beginning of the hill in the background. Featured is a “Belvedere,” meaning “good view” in Italian. A Belvedere is a small open room on the roof of a home that offers not just a good view of the area, but ventilation for the floors below.

In composing the painting, I was intrigued by the almost disorienting landscape of closely packed structures against the rising hill. The viewer is at once looking down on the tops of buildings and up the hillside. The “zig-zag” layout of the various sloping tile roofs adds to the effect. The strong architectural vertical of the building on the lower right helps anchor the eye from sliding off the canvas. The left side of the Belvedere in the center carries the anchoring effect deeper into the composition. And the corner of the wall at the upper right takes the viewer’s eye back further. The result is a very active left/right, front/back visual motion.

A swirling triad of reds, blues, and greens contributes to this visual activity. There are also bright whites and dark shadows that keep the eye moving.

The focus of the painting is a woman tending her rooftop garden above left center. The eye is drawn to the highest contrast. This occurs in the explosion of white tree blossoms against the dark wall, top center. The eye then slides down to her dark silhouette against the bright blossoms. It is framed within the soft arch of the Belvedere.

Of course, you don’t have to look under the hood to see how the sausage is made—to mix metaphors horribly. You can just enjoy a painting of a quiet morning in Siena.