“Autumn is a beautiful time to visit Rome”, says Auckland artist Peter Atkinson. The temperature is mild, low afternoon sun illuminates the trees turning gold along the banks of the Tiber and penetrates the sombre recesses of the city’s pre-Renaissance basilicas where often over looked treasures have drawn him back to the Eternal City over recent years.
Hiring an apartment just on the edge of the Forum, Peter spent several weeks studying the beautiful 12th and 13th century pavements, many of which remain intact in spite of the alterations and adaptations of the buildings that rise above them, that inspired his latest work. Complex geometrical patterns, crafted from thousands of brightly coloured marble fragments that medieval craftsmen of the 12th and 13th centuries retrieved from Rome’s classical ruins, they are part of a decorative tradition stretching back beyond ancient Greece. The quiet sense of timelessness, evoked by sunlight pouring through half open doors and glancing over their cracked and worn surfaces, is captured in Peter’s series of paintings and ceramic panels entitled, When Here and Now Cease to Matter.
To view available limited edition prints from this series click here.