Last week, I was hanging this painting done about twenty-five years ago by a painter who lives in San Gimignano, Italy, a small town in the Tuscan hills. He is named Massimo Pantani. He had a shop and painted in the back. My momma gave me one of his original works as a birthday gift that summer while we were on vacation, and he framed it for me. I was utterly delighted by the whole experience. For years it hung on a wall in a wood frame, and then last week the frame sort of hopped off the wall. Well, maybe not hopped but definitely fell off seemingly of its own initiative, while the painting and its matting remained on the wall. I looked at the painting and thought, "With that thick wood frame it looked really woodsy and natural, and in the matting by itself the country road looks just magical. I am loving the scenic road sans the wood frame and with just that silvery matte for a trim.
Massimo's current work can be viewed at http://www.pantanipaola.com/
Sarah
