Porta Portese

Porta Portese takes its name from the ancient city gate near the banks of the Tiber at the southern edge of Trastevere. During his time as a Rome Scholar at The British School at Rome, Rolph often visited the bustling market there, drawing inspiration from its vivid colors and urban dynamism. It was in a nearby coffee bar in 1998 that he first heard Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni—an experience that remained with him. Twenty-six years later, he revisited that memory through this painting, translating its sensory richness into a vibrant, contemplative visual language full of energy, rhythm, and reflection.