Botero

Fernando Botero considers himself a man and artist from and of Colombia, South America. You can see how in his religious compositions, such as Our Lady of Colombia, the flag connotes national identity. Banners with the national colors rise from the Virgin's feet, and the Christ Child holds a tiny Colombian flag.

In the 1983 painting titled La Colombiana (Colombian Woman), a woman in a yellow dress stands just inside the door of a house that could be located anywhere in the country.

In a 1994 Woman Falling from a Balcony portrays a young woman, dressed only in a green slip and green high-heeled shoes, flying through the air as she is observed by a man standing below. Does this represent a terrible accident, a suicide or a vision of the observer? In paintings such as this, Botero seems to be creating visual representations of the extraordinary imagination of Gabriel García Márquez, who, in his novels and short stories, created a world that may be described as both mundane and supernatural.

In 1993, Botero painted frescoes in the church of St. Antonio Abate in Pietrasanta.

Botero Paintings
Botero Sculptures

Good local restaurant in the area:

La Matinatica
Località Baccatoio
Via Matinatica, 20
p.+(0584)-792-534

Chefs: Riccardo and Mirella
The old mill which houses this trattoria straddles a fast-running stream; you can see the water-wheel which once operated the olive press as you walk inside. You can eat outside on a wooden deck that extends over the water, and which can be wonderfully cool and refreshing in summer.

There are two daily menus, one meat and one fish (served on alternate days). the fish is what you come here for. Try a Montellori Bianco dell'Empolese with your meal.
Closed: Wednesday

Directions: From Pietrasanta follow the signs to Camaiore, passing a cemetery (invisible behind a high wall) on your right, and a Fina garage and then an Audi garage on your left. La Martinatica is signposted to the left up a narrow road just after the Audi garage.