Florence 1949

Zinaida Serebriakova captured this view of Florence with watercolor, and you can almost feel her standing there, brush in hand, trying to catch the light. Those red rooftops! It's a dance of warm hues, right? I imagine her mixing the perfect shade, dabbing it on, watching it bloom across the paper. And see how she layers the blues in the distant mountains? It gives the city this amazing sense of depth, like you could just step right in. I bet she was thinking about the old masters, like Giotto and Masaccio, while she painted this. They all looked at Florence, but she’s seeing it with her own eyes. It’s like she’s saying, ‘I’m here, I’m part of this history, and I’m adding my voice.’ Painters are always having this conversation, you know, across time. Each one building on what came before, seeing the world anew.