Artist’s Statement
In 2004, I made three month-long painting trips to Rome, trying to find views that Corot painted in the 1820s. It was March and the weather was quite turbulent. Twice, I had to move my easel under the eave of a gardener’s shed to shelter from a violent hailstorm. These paintings became the basis for the panoramic view finished this year.
Time and the passage of empires are always in mind in Rome, and monuments of civilization under restless assault of natural forces. Having painted this in this year of anxiety and distress, it seems to me to speak to the uncertainty of our time.