Cortona, Italy, Landscapes

In Cortona, we stayed at Casa Betania, which had a beautiful vista of surrounding coutryside. (second sketch) On Monday, September 26, we walked outside the city, for some landscape drawing. (first sketch) Cypress trees are symbolic of trusan landscape. "One cannot think of Tuscany without thinking of the magnificent cypress tree, so quintessential and symbolic of the Tuscan landscape that it has adopted the name of "The Tuscan cypress tree. Although this is a somewhat fitting name, it is however grossly incorrect as its real place of origin was almost certainly Persia or Syria and was brought to the Tuscan area by the mysterious Etruscan tribes-people many thousands of years ago who considered the plant to have mystical/supernatural connections." read more The Tuscany region is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world, with its magnificent scenery of rolling hills, hilltop towns villages and vineyards.

View of church and fort on hilltop

View from garden patio at villa