Painting in Northern Tuscany, Italy

My husand and I were lucky to enjoy a week in a small hilltop town in Northern Tuscany called Mulazzo. Mulazzo is perched on a hill in a region called Lungiana and surrounded by mountains with beautiful views of the Appenine Mountains. Lungiana is an historical setttlement that dates back to medieval times and is filled with beautiful mountaintop castles and fortresses. We stayed at a beautiful villa Spino Secco adjacent to the site of the original castle owned by the royal Malaspina family. The town hosted the Italian philospher, writer and poet Dante in the 1300s and named the tower on the top of the town after Dante. 

The whole region is an artist's paradise and less known then the larger hilltop towns of other parts of  Tuscany. We were able to explore quiet hilltop towns and castles with few other tourists nearby and most are European, we saw very few Americans. 

I really enjoyed taking some time to sit and watercolor a few views. Here I am atop of part of what is left of the original castle on the Spina Secco property. From my perch I had an amazing view of the whole town. 

 

Here are the two colorful watercolor sketches I created, looking at them now I can't believe how many hours it took me to sketch out the buildings and all of the angles. I certainly enjoyed simplifying some of the scenery and brightening up the colors. Below are a few more photos of the town. We also really enjoyed wandering through the small streets and winding passageways inside the town. I was met with historic views and beauty at every turn.