Piazza della Cisterna, San Gimignano, Tuscany

Richard Harpum

ORIGINAL SOLD, PRINTS AVAILABLE. In 2007 my wife and I joined our in-laws in Italy for a two-week holiday. During the vacation, we visited the medieval town of San Gimignano in Tuscany. The town is famous for its 14 towers which are all that survive of the original 72 towers that were originally built. This view is from the central triangular piazza, which contains a large well, or cisterna, and is a popular meeting place for the many tourists that visit the town. I enjoyed painting this scene; although very time-consuming, I have included a lot of detail in the hope of drawing the viewer in to explore the various parts of the piazza and hopefully get a flavour of its charm.

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