Florence, Piazza Della Signoiria 2013

Patrick Pietropoli made this painting, Florence, Piazza Della Signoria, which captures a moment of everyday life in a famous Italian square with oil on canvas. You can see how the painting has been built up and broken down. Look at the white facade of the building to the left. It has been scrubbed almost clean with a palette knife. I feel like Pietropoli is trying to capture the light and atmosphere of the place as much as the architecture. You can see figures dotted across the space of the square, some like dark smudges of paint. Perhaps he wanted to see how loose, gestural marks can conjure up the essence of a scene, an exercise in paring down and refining until just the right elements remain. I have definitely been there as a painter. Pietropoli’s work is part of a long tradition of artists exploring the urban landscape, from Canaletto to the Impressionists. Each artist brings their own sensibility and style to the task of representing the world around them.