“Ponte Vecchio” Florence, Italy
Painted on location at the “Old Bridge” near the Palazzo Vecchio. The bridge was built by the Romans prior to 966 spanning the river Arno and now features shops offering art and luxury items in the heart of the old city.
Oil on artboard 8” x 10” Overall
framed 15” x 17” Inquire for price.
“Palazzo Vecchio” Florence, Italy
Painted directly from the “Old Palace” in the center of the city, which was a fortress built at the turn of the 14th century and served as the meeting place for the Priori of Florence. Even today the city council still meets there.
Oil on artboard 8” x 10” Overall framed 15” x 17”
Inquire for price.
“Moonrise over Annapolis”
The viewer is perched atop the Maryland Inn, looking east down Main Street in Annapolis, Maryland toward City Dock and Spa Creek. The full moon rises over the Chesapeake Bay, casting its golden light onto the waters beneath. Ascending into the night sky is the magnificent dome of the Maryland State House. Visible in the distance are the Naval Academy field house, Saint Mary’s Church, the Greenbury Point communication complex, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, all signature landmarks of a city on the bay, known for its charm and history.
Oil on canvas 14” x 26”, Framed 19” x 31” $18,000.
"The Age of Steam and Sail on the Chesapeake"
”The Age of Steam and Sail on the Chesapeake”
ere we see the Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Elsworth sailing north off Thomas Point Lighthouse. Trailing to the south is one of the ubiquitous sidewheel steamers that plied the bay in those days. The scene is just south of Annapolis, Maryland, in the early 1900s.
Thomas Point Lighthouse was first activated in 1875 and still flashes its beacon warning mariners off Thomas Point Shoal. The Elsworth was built in nearby Hudson on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1901. She was the first skipjack that I sailed aboard, and I did so to learn the ways of the watermen who worked these vessels. They were built primarily for dredging oysters in the shallow bay waters.
The steamers carried passengers, freight, and mail from waterfront towns and cities on the bay before paved roads and rail lines were common. The sidewheel, or paddle steamers, would soon be replaced with the more modern propeller-driven or screw steamers. Steamers ruled the Chesapeake for 150 years until the City of Norfolk pulled up to the dock in her namesake city for the final time on April 13, 1962.
John M. Barber
Oil on canvas 16” x 20” Overall 23” x 27”
$9,500
JMB
2025