Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Arch street / A rua do Arco


Old and narrow, the Arch street may have been the main artery of this town, having seen days of intense activity and movement. Today is a quiet street and the old medieval arch, primitive entrance of the walled town, remains, along with the obsolete tower, as a reminder of those times of former glory.
Antiga e estreita, a rua do Arco já terá sido a principal artéria desta vila, tendo conhecido dias de intensa actividade e movimento. Hoje é uma ruazita sossegada e o velho arco medieval, antiga porta da cidadela muralhada, permanece tal como a vetusta torre como lembrança desses tempos de antigo esplendor.
Fabriano cold-pressed 7"x 5" - 140lb (18x12,5cm - 300g/m2) paper
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5 comments:

Stephen Dell'Aria said...

Terrific!!! These sketches make me wonder how different the personal outlook towards life the inhabitants who once lived there, might of had compared to our outlook today.

Paulo J. Mendes said...

I got inspiration from a couple of towns in northern Portugal - I can name Caminha and Ponte de Lima as two of them - and it may be surprising that life is still running quietly as shown in the image, at least in the Winter months when tourists and other visitors don't come in large numbers.

Julio Rodrigues said...

Este trabalho e' um dos meus favoritos. Penso que e' devido a' profusao de belas texturas.

Unknown said...

Oh Paulo... the oranges on the street after falling from the tree. The one man turning around and the woman knitting along side her dog! Wonderful!!!!

Paulo J. Mendes said...

Villager, nestas pitorescas vilas do Minho, que é onde eu fui buscar a inspiração, abunda a cor e variedade de materiais: A cal ou cerâmica nas paredes, o granito nas calçadas, etc. São uma festa para os olhos e um regalo para pintar.

Sheila, a couple of weeks ago I went out for a small excursion in the time of a morning, and I found such a quiet and peaceful atmosphere in a small town some 110km north from home, just where a wide river meets the sea with Spain in the other side. That place was my inspiration for this work.