In 2023, we rented an apartment in Florence, Italy for a month. A lovely place with plenty of living space indoor and outdoor, a big kitchen, and an elevator. The only inconvenience was its location 2 kilometres from the city centre.

At the time of our late fall visit, most of the neighbourhood was under construction for new tram lines, and the closed streets meant no public transportation options. So most days, we would bundle up in our coats, hats and scarves, and walk into the centre. In retrospect, this probably wasn’t such a bad thing as it helped us work off a lot of calories!

Some days the walk was delightful but on others it was extremely cold and blustery. As we stayed into December, this walk became increasingly less fun due to the weather. Like a child in the car back seat yelling “are we there yet?”, I would grow impatient to finish this walk so I decided to pick a landmark to signal “we were there” and the long journey to Centro Storico was over. This was the landmark:

Wasn’t it a cheery sight? The abundance of roses, peonies and carnations above the door (albeit of the plastic variety) always made me smile, both because it was a bold decorating choice and because I knew the warmth of the Central Market was just a few steps away!

Ironically, we never had a meal at Osteria Pepò. We must have passed it over 20 times but it remained only an important Florentine landmark, along with all the other treasures in the city. And this being its role, it only makes sense that it was destined to become the subject of a painting!

This original painting was drawn first in permanent ink and then painted with professional grade watercolours on archival watercolour paper. It comes in a 12″ x 12″ acid-free white mat for easy framing. This painting will be exhibited at my shows this year and can be purchased from me directly, using the Contact Form below.