The Eye of Rome : Stephen Wiltshire
Jan 24th, 2008 by Xtine71
Mr Wiltshire is not your average Londoner. Born in 1974 from West Indian parents, affected of a form of autism he never was able to communicate with the outside world like the rest of us. He grew up with his mum and sister. It soon became obvious that he had an exceptional talent at drawing and recreating scenes of what he saw.
As early as 1987, he was spotted by the BBC and the very same year some of his works were already published. Since then Stephen Wiltshire became the subject of many Tv documentaries.
If at the beginning Stephen would draw animals, then London buses, he eventually dedicated to landscapes, cities and great buildings of all over the world: In 2001, further to flying over the city by helicopter, he then did a perfectly detailed and accurate drawing of London. Subsequently , he also drew Tokyo in 2005, and at a later stage he drew Frankfurt and Hong Kong.
Stephen Wiltshire, now known as the Human Eye because of his extraordinary ability to memorize all visual details and to recopy them on paper, came to Rome in June 2005. He took a short trip on helicopter during which he admired the Trevi Fountain, Rome St Peter’s Cathedral, the Ancient Rome and the Colosseum and the Venezia Square, and also flew over our My Hotel Rome.
His drawing of the city of Rome took him a couple of days only, and the accuracy of it all is simply amazing.
Watch here for the full video of the Rome trip and drawing: