From the Cheese Portraits series.

I have been asked to paint this staple several times over the years.  I kept pushing it back on my to-do list.  Curiously, I think I put it off because it's so familiar.  I grew up knowing this cheese as that tasty, salty stuff you'd grate over pasta and add to any Italian dish.  It hadn't even occurred to me that it's "Pecorino Romano" because I've always just seen "Locatelli" printed all over that rind.  But this firm, salty sheep's milk cheese is indeed from Sardinia, where the Locatelli family began making it over 200 years ago.  It's aged at least 9 months before wheels are wrapped in that familiar signature branded paper and shipped around the world via the Auricchio Company.   

Since I so strongly associate it with grating, I felt it was necessary to grate some for this painting. 

Origin: Italy

Price: $550