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The Siena experience — 13 Comments

  1. Most extraordinary. I’m wagering the small corps of art historians who are period specialists and have regular salaries think they’ve got the best job in the world. And they do.

    Still waiting to hear your tribute to Eydie Gorme.

  2. Across the street from the cathedral is a place that was once a hospital. It has magnificent frescos, one of which depicts the fate of babies in that era.
    I took that photo on a trip and it shows the babies rising to Heaven and the Madonna welcoming them.
    There are other frescos showing the treatment of wounds. It was used as a hospital until quite recently.
    The plaques marking the neighborhoods of the klans are also interesting.

  3. Neo,

    Your “Wow!” response is exactly what was intended.

    The impetus behind the creation of such structures was to serve as a visual metaphor of divine presence. One is supposed to be acutely aware that they have entered a special place divorced from the reality outside. That your experience in 2018 undoubtedly duplicates the experience of innumerable visitors for the past 800 years is a testament to the effectiveness of that medieval vision and its execution.

  4. Also, JIC you aren’t aware, the Piazza del Campo and the Torre del Mangia gave Niall Ferguson the idea for his book title ‘The Square and the Tower’.

  5. Mike K:

    That’s what I meant towards the end there, the building I called the “old hospital.” The bottommost photo is of some of the ceiling and one of the frescoes in that building. It’s of part of the same series, in this case depicting the children on the left, and the wet nurses on the right.

  6. I remember walking down that rabbit warren of cobblestone streets in the old city on my way to the University of Siena. I turned a corner and saw a number of open front spaces where craftsmen and artisans were working. There were men forging iron over open fires and it looked for all the world like I had entered a time warp into the Middle Ages. It’s something I’ll never forget.

  7. Happened to be chaperoning a bunch of kids to a mountain town in Spain during Holy Week. The kids and the other chaperones dispersed in various directions while I had my role as “home base”. Anything happens, find Aubrey. He’ll be….here. Happened to be in front of an ancient cathedral.
    In the plaza outside were tables where people in evening dress were reading from large sheets and waving their arms around. I was wondering about whether I should have quit drinking for the duration.
    Then they went into the cathedral
    Turns out they were soloists.
    And there I was in the warm sun and cool air of mountain Castile, listening to a medieval Mass.
    Afraid to close my eyes in case eight or nine centuries might disappear.

  8. I’m wondering how many other people first found out about Siena while reading Herman Wouk’s masterful book “The Winds of War”?

    That was certainly true in my case.

  9. For the first moment, Neo, I forgot you were in Italy and, seeing the headline of the post, I thought this was going to be about your visit to Siena College up my way.

  10. A real treat. My trips to Europe have mostly been to the mountainous areas. Churches are everywhere, but most in the mountains are quite simple. They’re representative of the relatively less prosperous mountain economies. So, I’ve seen few of the more magnificent churches that exist in Europe. Thus, this is a wonderful treat to see your pictures.

  11. I’ve never been, though I’ve been to others and the scale, the colors and artistry, and the craftsmanship is wonderful. I was always struck by the magnificance of the alternating colors of the layers of stone and brick in these huge churches. It makes a very powerful visual statement.

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