Casa São Roque Fountain, Watercolors of Forgotten Places
2023-09-23
This is the fountain in one of the side gardens at Casa São Roque. On my last visit to the park, it looked just like this, faded, with azulejos missing from its main body. But the beauty was still there.
It shows how time has passed. Some places get more forgotten than others, less noticed by the people who walk by every day. But the beauty was still there, untouched.
That morning I’d already drawn the entrance gate at the back of the park. In the afternoon, I went for a walk around the house. I ended up drawing this little forgotten spot, just sitting there watching time go by.
Ivy grew all around it, helping hide the marks of time on the wall’s frame, and somehow making a forgotten place like this even more beautiful. The wall needed some repair, with cracks that felt like a witness standing there, confirming how much time had gone by.
So, with that company, I sat down and used every bit of time I had that afternoon. I sketched the angels and cherubs decorating the fountain. And the dry basin too, which seemed to be waiting patiently for some water to trickle out of the statue’s jug. The result is this watercolor of the Casa São Roque fountain.
Update
Last week, I went back to the park. The fountain had been fully restored, completely new, absolutely stunning. The restoration brought back all its beauty, revealing details that time had worn away. It’s really lovely, but I’ll admit I missed the vines that used to cover it. They gave the place life, and that bit of magic it used to have.
It’s just another sign that change never stops in Porto. But the beauty of what I saw stayed captured in this watercolor. I hope to get back to Parque São Roque soon, with more time, and draw a few new sketches.