Sicily windmills

This is an original artwork on stretched canvas of saltpans and windmills in the Stagnone lagoon between Marsala and Trapani, on the west coast of Sicily, Italy. The feeling of wind, salt and air is well depicted in the painting putting you into the atmosphere of freedom and ancient craft. “Stagnone”, the largest lagoon in Italy, a few miles north of Marsala. Now a designated marine nature reserve covering some 2,000 hectares, the Stagnone is home not only to the ancient tradition of sea-salt production but also to a flourishing variety of wildlife, and a fascinating archipelago consisting of four mostly uninhabited islands: San Pantaleo, home to ancient Mothya, one of the Phoenicians’ original settlements in Sicily, Isola Longa, Santa Maria and Schola. The salt pans at the Stagnone offer a truly unique landscape. Windmills, first introduced during mediaeval times, dot the horizon, a testament to how things were once done, though one or two continue to function, pumping water through the sluice gates into or out of the various basins.