A magical day: Today (day 9) on Sep 6, Siena celebrated its Titular Feast (the legend of how it came to be called Siena), the Feast of the She-wolf. I was swallowed up by the procession of hundreds of celebrants on their way to the Siena Cathedral.
Wikipedia’s history has it that the city of Siena was founded by the sons of Remus, Aschio and Senio who, to escape the wrath of their uncle Romulus, fled Rome, taking the Capitoline she-wolf with them, stealing it from the temple of Apollo. The lore also wants that, having arrived on the Tuscan hills, Senio founded Siena (in Latin Sena) and Aschio the village of Asciano.
I ordered tickets for the Cathedral Complex the day before, picked them up at about 9:45 and was one of the first to enter the Church—before leaving, 100s had swarmed into the Cathedral. It’s Siena’s main attraction! The pics speak for themselves—the marble art of the floor is over the top astounding!
After the cathedral, my ticket also allowed entrance into the OPA Museum (Opera della Metropolitana) that houses stuff that was originally in the Cathedral. The HIGHLIGHT for me was the 14th century Maesta altarpiece by Duccio di Buoninsegna—first altarpiece to have both a front and back side. BTW, it was discovered to be Duccio’s work when it was removed piece by piece from the altar in 1943 to protect it from WW II damage!
To quote Wikipedia: “Though it took a generation for its effect to be truly felt, Duccio's Maestà set Italian painting on a course leading away from the hieratic representations of the Italo-Byzantine style towards more direct presentations of reality, as developed in the course of the Trecento associated predominantly with Giotto who presumably was Duccio's pupil.” In today’s lingo, we call it truly a DISRUPTER.
Then I had an Aperol Spritz at Piazza del Campo, “the main public space of the historic center of Siena, a city in Tuscany, Italy. Its name comes from the Italianword campanilismo, which translates to "local pride" and campanile "bell tower."[1] The campo is regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity.” (Wikipedia)
Last stop was Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico, begun in 1226. St Catherine was canonized by Pope Pius II in 1461; she was declared a patron saint of Rome in 1866 by Pope Pius IX, and of Italy (together with Francis of Assisi) in 1939 by Pope Pius XII. She was the second woman to be declared a Doctor of the Church, on 4 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI – only days after Teresa of Ávila. In 1999 Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Patron Saint of Europe. (Wikipedia)
