Palio (Drappellone)

The drappellone (banner), or palio, known affectionately as "the rag" in Siena, is the trophy that is to be delivered to the contrada that wins the Palio.
The palio is an elongated rectangular piece of silk, hand-painted by an artist for the occasion. It is held vertically on a black-and-white shaft halberd and topped by a silver plate with two white and black plumes draped down the sides.
The palio, along with the plumes, remains the property of the contrada. The plate is returned to the city of Siena before the two Palii of the following year, after the date and the name of the victorious contrada are inscribed on its back. There is one silver platter for the Palio in July and another for the August Palio. The plates are replaced approximately every ten years.
The value of the banner is unique, because it represents a particular historical period of the city of Siena. The palii often reflect the symbols of the various governments that have presided, at various times including the crest of the grand duchy of Lorraine, the crest of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the crest of the Kingdom of Savoy of Italy, symbols from Fascist Italy, and most recently imagery of the Republic.
The process that an artist should follow in designing the palio is rigid: it must follow a precise iconography that includes some sacred symbols, as the July Palio is dedicated to the Madonna of Provenzano, and that of August to the Madonna of the Assumption. It must present the insignia of the city, those of the third part of the city, and the symbols or colors of the ten contrade participating in the race. There are, however, no limits regarding the style of the art. The palio is first presented at a press conference in the courtyard of the Podestà of the City Hall about a week before the race.

The Palio runs throughout the year

Although many activities take place within each Contrada, the organization of the Palio is still the largest, since it is not just in two races each year. Each time, the festival itself runs for four days of intense rich and various events, the preparation of which lasts all year.
From early winter the leaders are talking and developing strategies, making contacts with the jockeys and horse owners. These prepare those who run in square or taking part in minor Palios (la cosiddetta provincia ) and bringing them to training courses organized by the city in the spring.
The full activities of the Palio start to grow in momentum towards the end of May, with the drawing of lots of the three remaining contrade that will join the seven that have won the right to race. With districts and teams outlined Contrade begin to talk about "deals" (engagement of jockeys) and "parties" (secret pacts for the win), despite the not knowing which horse that will be drawn in the lot.
About a week before the race the Palio (Drappellone) itself is presented to the City who has commissioned a local artist (in the case of the Palio of July) or internationally recognized (in the case of the Palio of August or a special Palio). Also at this time prior visits occur to where the horse will be presented for the lottery.
In the first of four days of festival the lottery is held, and subsequent combination of the Barbero (The term racehorse in the city of Siena and Tuscany) to districts in the race. The stone race track around the square is covered with a layer of dirt composed of a mixture of tuff, clay and sand. Six trials are run, during which the riders have the opportunity to better understand the behaviour of the horse that they have mounted and do get used to the square, its sounds and rhythms of the race. Although the trials are followed by many tourists and Contrada members in square, barriers are mounted on the outside of the track.
Among the events that mark the approach of the Palio are the rehearsal dinner, the "mass" of the jockeys, and the blessing of the horse and jockey.

The Extraordinary Palios

A The Extraordinary Palio is a third Palio which may take place during the period between May and September, and is associated with events or anniversaries of major importance for the community of Siena. Last extraordinary Palio coincided with the advent of the new millennium. It was actually held on 9 September 2000 and was won by Selva (Forest), by jockey Giuseppe Pes riding on The horse Urban II. Prior to this the last Palio extraordinary held on 13 September 1986 to celebrate the centenary of the abolition of the Balia and Biccherna governments.
In earliest times, the third Palio was a way to honor distinguished guests passing through or visiting Siena. An example is the extraordinary Palio of 7 June 1676, during the visit to Siena of the wife of Prince Don Agostino Chigi, or even that of 15 June 1673 (not considered official), honouring the visit to Siena of Cardinal Flavio Chigi. Even the Grand Duke of Tuscany requested another round of Palio, perhaps closer to the ordinary.
From the second half of 19th century extraordinary Palio's began to be organized for celebration of special events, rather than illustrious visits. This was the case of a meeting of the Society of Sciences, or the inauguration of important monuments (such as the inauguration of the monument to the fallen in the Battle of Curtatone and Montanara, on 29 May 1893). In 1896 they even ran four Palios, both ordinary and two extraordinary. The first race on 16 August which is considered extraordinary because it was requested by the citizens as the original race was moved to 25 August due to transfer from Siena's VIII Corps and the second on 23 September, for the inauguration of monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi.

A Third Palio was held in 1945, by popular acclaim to celebrate the end of World War II, the "Palio of Peace", won by Gioacchino Calabro riding Rubacuori su Folco, for the Contrada of Drago (Dragon). An extraordinary Palio was held in 1969 to commemorate the conquest of the Moon by the mission Apollo 11.
The following years created the habit of running on the occasion of a centenary of particular importance. This is the case of 28 May 1950, the fifth centenary of the canonization of St. Bernardine of Siena, or 5 June 1961 for the centenary of Unification of Italy.

Controversy and equine security measures

For several years, the Palio is the focus of numerous protests by animal rights organizations, including the Anti-Vivisection League, which includes primarily race incidents causing falls, which in some cases led to the death of the horse.
The results of calculations on the percentage of accidents caused by Palio vary depending on who makes them. The data that provides Anti-Vivisection League said that from 1970 to 2007 a total of 48 horses have died, 50% of fatal accidents per year, whereas those injured or killed during the race and then away from the cameras, both died during surgery. However, the calculations carried out by supporters of the Palio gives a rate of 2.05% of fatal accidents per ride, because of battery selection, testing and prizes if they play no less than ten per issue.
Another fact to consider is that many rules governing the protection of animals have been developed and implemented only since the nineties: the data, or animals or even supporters of the Palio, stress that the series has been drastically reduced after this date .
In recent decades the city of Siena has adopted a series of measures to ensure the protection of horses (and riders) before, during and after the race, but these measures are still judged insufficient by some animal welfare groups, who continue to seek ' abolition of the race. Among the measures taken include:

* Forecasting a compulsory health check, held by a commission appointed by the City Council and consists of two surgeons (including the City
* Serum chemistry analysis, introduced in May 1999 in order to confirm and verify what has always been required by the Rules, or the prohibition of administration of substances with stimulant and depressant, and local anesthetics,
* Approval in 1999 of the "Protocol for the provision of incentives for the maintenance of the Palio horse" and the establishment of the Register of horses trained to run continuously and Field. In 2004 introduced a register of farmers instead of half blood Arabian horses (deemed physically fit to travel) and a register of barriers;
* Building a track in town Mociano, identical in shape and slope to the Piazza del Campo. From March to June are held here, in addition to Monticiano and Monteroni d'Arbia, jobs and training courses required for horses that aims to take in the Palio,
* Protections (formerly known as materassoni) present the curve of St. Martin in June 1999 set up a barrier of protection to high absorption in PVC, raising the parapet of the House and the curve of shirts introduction of safety for the emergency personnel of 118,
* Intervention on the composition, method of implementation and monitoring of the layer of tuff
* Maintenance of horses that no longer run the Palio conditions (for age or injury) at the Equestrian Center of State Forestry "The Caggio" of the town of Radicondoli.
* Alcohol test for jockeys[16] as the order of the Secretary of Health Francesca Martini.

This page uses material from the Wikipedia article Palazzo Pubblico, Siena contrade and Palio di Siena, published under the GNU Free Documentation License.

[1] The palio race commemorates the history of Italian cities as it has done so since the late Middle Ages. In the thirteenth century, the proliferation of feast days in Italian cities coincided with growth in population and commerce. The palio race was the culminating, profane event in a series of sacred offerings and processions, in which representatives of the city's and political groups participated. The palio may have descended from the chariot races held in Roman Italy for pagan festivals. The city government organized and paid for the palio. In Siena, the participation of the contrade (neighborhood groups) in the palio helped to preserve the tradition in the face of Florentine rule.
'The inception and evolution of devotion to the Madonna di Provenzano was an attempt by the sixteenth century Sienese to continue or perhaps capture the spirit of their ancestors. Although the inception and evolution of their devotion to the Madonna di Provenzano may have developed from latent civic identity that rumbled in the bellies of the no longer autonomous Sienese, the institution of the Palio in honor of the Provenzano has a slightly different, though connected, history. One might say that the institution of the tradition was the Medici’s reaction to Sienese resistance. By the mid-sixteenth century, the Sienese no longer had the power to institute or support their own civic feasts. The last feast the failing republic had managed to produce celebrated the city’s final victory over Florence, at the Battle of Camollia in 1526. Records show that this victory was celebrated annually with banquets and a palio on the feast of the Visitation, July 2 nd. Holding this celebration on a Marian feast day during the waning days of the Republic linked Siena’s latest victory to the city’s holy protectress, thus continuing the legacy of Montaperti and, again, claiming the glory of the thirteenth century city, even in the desperate days of the sixteenth. After the fall of the Republic, however, the Medici couldn’t have their fiefdom celebrating its own glory, especially if it was directly associated with Florence’s humiliation. Yet, even when the feast was renamed to merely celebrate the Visitation, its history remained intact. On the other hand, the Medici couldn’t completely abolish the feast without adding more fuel to the fire of those who openly resisted Mediciean rule and losing what little peace they had established in the newly enfeoffed Sienese. In order to maintain the air of order and appease their subjects, the Medici tried to reconcile the Sienese’s desire for the feast with their own traditions. At first they simply moved the celebration up a week, to the feast of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence, but imposing a new patron onto the Sienese did not work. Despite their dependent status, the Sienese stubbornly refused to give up their holy protectress. Thus the Medici were forced to find another focus for the July celebrations. The official recognition of the Madonna di Provenzano came just in time, perhaps hastened by Medici connections in Rome.'
Jenna Soleo-Shanks, RITUAL OF IDENTITY OR RENAISSANCE FAIR: THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF SIENA’S PALIO TRADITION, City University of New York, 2007, p. 19.

Piazza del Campo

History

The open site was a marketplace established before the thirteenth century on a sloping site near the meeting point of the three hillside communities that coalesced to form Siena: the Castellare, the San Martino and the Camollia. Siena may have had earlier Etruscan settlements, but it was not a considerable Roman settlement, and the campo does not lie on the site of a Roman forum, as is sometimes suggested. It was paved in 1349 in fishbone-patterned red brick with ten lines of travertine, which divide the piazza into nine sections, radiating from the mouth of the gavinone (the central water drain) in front of the Palazzo Pubblico. The number of divisions are held to be symbolic of the rule of The Nine (Noveschi) who laid out the campo and governed Siena at the height of its mediaeval splendour between 1292-1355. It was and remains the focal point of public life in the City. From the piazza, eleven narrow shaded streets radiate into the city.

The palazzi signorili that line the square, housing the families of the Sansedoni, the Piccolomini and the Saracini etc, have unified rooflines, in contrast to earlier tower houses — emblems of communal strife — such as may still be seen not far from Siena at San Gimignano. In the statutes of Siena, civic and architectural decorum was ordered :"...it responds to the beauty of the city of Siena and to the satisfaction of almost all people of the same city that any edifices that are to be made anew anywhere along the public thoroughfares...proceed in line with the existent buildings and one building not stand out beyond another, but they shall be disposed and arranged equally so as to be of the greatest beauty for the city."
The unity of these Late Gothic houses is effected in part by the uniformity of the bricks of which their walls are built: brick-making was a monopoly of the commune, which saw to it that standards were maintained. (Ingersoll)
At the foot of the Palazzo Pubblico's wall is the late Gothic Chapel of the Virgin built as an ex voto by the Sienese, after the terrible Black Death of 1348 had ended.

Fonte Gaia fountain

The magnificent Fonte Gaia fountain, designed by Jacopo della Quercia around 1419, adorns the higher part of Piazza del Campo. The fountain we see today stands on the exact spot occupied by a previously existing fountain in 1346. The water that feeds the fountain travels from a spring in the nearby countryside through 25 kilometres of underground passages known as Bottini, built in the Middle Ages and named thus on account of their barrel vaulting.
The fountain is named Fonte Gaia on account of the great celebrations that took place when the inhabitants of Siena saw the water gushing out from the fountain for the first time. Although Jacopo della Quercia received the commission to design the fountain from the Comune in 1409, construction did not actually take place until between 1414 and 1419 because of the sculptor’s prior engagements in Lucca, where he was completing the tombstones of Lorenzo Trenta and his wife in the Trenta family chapel at San Frediano in Lucca.
Della Quercia drew the inspiration for his design of the fountain from the traditional designs of Medieval Senese public fountains. A large, altar-like rectangular basin is surrounded on three sides by a high parapet. The sides are decorated with reliefs of The Creation of Adam and The Flight from the Garden of Eden. Two female figures adorn the front two columns, traditionally believed to represent Rea Silvia and Acca Larentia, in remembrance of Siena’s legendary associations with Rome. The long section of the fountain is adorned at the centre with a Madonna and Child, surrounded by allegories of the Virtues.
Although in poor condition, the sculptures are still a clear indication of the originality and power of Jacopo della Quercia, who has managed to capture an extraordinary sense of movement in so few simple lines.
By the mid-19th century the fountain was in such precarious condition that it was decided to replace the original with a copy. Tito Sarrocchi was commissioned to sculpt the new fountain in 1858 and he completed it in 1869, albeit without the two statues on the final pilasters. What remains of the original fountain by Jacopo della Quercia is kept in the Loggia of the Palazzo Pubblico.
Restoration works on the original fountain were started in the early 1990s, under the patronage of Florence’s Opificio delle Pietre Dure in collaboration with the Siena town council and the Sovrintendenze dei Beni Architettonici e Ambientali e Artistici e Storici di Siena. After a detailed analysis of the remaining parts, the project involves a piece by piece restoration, with the entire work eventually reassembled within a protected structure.

Palazzo Pubblico

The Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) is a palace in Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. Construction began in 1297 and its original purpose was to house the republican government, consisting of the Podestà and Council of Nine.

The outside of the structure is an example of Italian medieval architecture with Gothic influences. The lower story is stone; the upper crenelatted stories are made of brick. The facade of the palace is curved slightly inwards (concave) to reflect the outwards curve (convex) of the Piazza del Campo, Siena's central square of which the Palace is the focal point. The campanile or bell tower, Torre del Mangia, was built between 1325 and 1344 with its crown designed by the painter, Lippo Memmi. The tower was designed to be taller than the tower in neighboring rival Florence; at the time it was the tallest structure in Italy. It was fitted with a mechanical clock during the mid 14th century. Its design has been used as the basis for several other campaniles including the Dock Tower in Grimsby, England constructed in 1852 and the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower in the edgabston campus of the University of Birmingham (completed in 1908).


Frescoes

Nearly every major room in the palace contains frescoes. These frescoes are unusual for the time in that they were commissioned by the governing body of the city, rather than by the Church or by a religious fraternity. They are also unusual in that many of them depict secular subjects instead of the religious subjects which are overwhelmingly typical of Italian art of this era.
The most famous of the secular frescoes are three panels in the series on government in the Hall of the Nine (also known as Sala della Pace) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. These frescoes are collectively known as Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government.

The Allegory of Good Government depicts the personification of Justice as a woman. She gestures to the scales of balance, held by the personifcation of Wisdom floating over her throne. On the viewer's left, a convicted criminal is beheaded; on the right, figures receive the rewards of justice. At Justice's feet, the personification of Virtue, also, unusually for the time, portrayed as a female figure, passes virtue among twenty four faithfully rendered and recognizable images of prominent male citizens of Siena. The men face towards the largest figure in the image, a judge located in the center right. The judge is surrounded by additional personifications including Peace, who is represented as a fashionable, white-clad contemporary female figure with elaborate blonde hair. (Then as now, blonde hair was fashionable and seldom entirely natural; it was not the dominant natural hair color for Italian women from this region, and it was common for women to lighten their hair by streaking it with urine and heating it in the sun.)

The allegory carries a strong social message of the value of the stable republican government of Siena. It combines elements of secular life with references to the importance of religion in the city at the time. The figure of Justice resembles the figure of Mary, Queen of Heaven, the patron saint of Siena, on a throne. The Judge reflects the tradition in the Christian Last Judgment to have God or Christ judging the saved on the left; the damned on the right. While classified as medieval or proto (pre)-renaissance art, these paintings show a transition in thought and an evolution in theme from earlier religious art.

Flanking the Allegory are two other paintings on perpendicular walls: Effects of Good Government and Effects of Bad Government. Both these frescoes depict a recognizable view of Siena and its countryside.
In the allegorical representation of Good Government, the prosperous townspeople are trading and dancing in the streets. Beyond the city walls is a lush countryside in which crops are harvested.
In the allegory of Bad Government, crime is rampant and diseased citizens roam a crumbling city. The countryside suffers from drought.

The Courtyard

Many of the frescoes in the Palace, including these, are badly damaged. This is allegedly due to salt once stored in the basement of the building. It is theoretically possible that the salts wicked moisture down from the walls, causing the plaster to dry excessively and the frescoes to flake off.
Other notable frescoes include the mysterious fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano at the siege of Montemassi, located in the Great Council Hall (Sala del Mappamondo). The fresco is traditionally attributed to Simone Martini, although there is debate on the subject. The wall has circular markings left by the circular wall-mounted (now lost) map of the world by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
Siena was decimated by the Black Death in 1348. Approximately half the population died in the plague. The republic's economy was destroyed and the state quickly declined from its position of prominence in Italy. The Franciscan religious order rose to power in the city. The stagnation over the following centuries meant that while Siena did not develop during the Renaissance as did other Italian cities, it was also preserved both from bombardment during World War II and from modern development.

Palazzo Sansedoni

Of all the fine buildings that face onto Piazza del Campo, the red facade of Palazzo Sansedoni stands out distinctly. As well as being of major historical and artistic value, this building enjoys the added prestige of housing the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation.

The palazzo takes its name from the Sansedoni family, one of Siena’s leading aristocratic dynasties during the Middle Ages. Probably the most eminent member of this family was Beato Ambrogio Sansedoni (Siena, April 16th 1220 – March 20th 1286), who was a major player on the political and social scene of 13th century Siena. After entering the Dominican order at just 17, Sansedoni studied alongside some of the most celebrated figures of his age, including St Thomas Aquinas and Pietro di Tarantasia, the future Pope Innocent V. His exceptional talents as a speaker and crowd-mover were admired across Italy and abroad as far as Germany and France. In what can only be termed an ironical twist of fate, Sansedoni died suddenly as he was writing one of his sermons. The city of Siena commemorated him with a bust inserted into the facade of the cathedral and until the mid-16th century there was a Palio specially dedicated to him. On July 2nd 1986 the vignettist Carlo Cerasoli featured Sansedoni on the Palio banner he designed for the occasion.

The unusual rhomboid tower, as well as the elegance with which the building curves to follow the square, marks Palazzo Sansedoni out from the other buildings that surround Piazza del Campo. The building has undergone a number of changes through the ages. Around the mid-13th century records indicate that a building stood here, probably a kind of tower residence. A document dated 1340 reads like a contract listing the design of a second building, while
the palazzo took on the appearance it has today after refurbishments carried out in the 18th century.

The interiors of the palazzo are the fruit of its 18th century refurbishments and particularly fine, from the fresco decorations by Melani and Ferretti to the fantastical architectural trompe l’oeils by Anderlini, sculptures by Mazzuoli and bronzes by Soldani and Foggini. The chapel of the Beato Ambrogio, also within the palazzo, is one of the finest examples of baroque style decoration in Siena. On the anniversary of the holy man’s death a mass is held here in the presence of all the city’s authorities.

A number of restoration works have been carried out on the palazzo in recent years, thanks to the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation, with the aim of preserving and promoting what remains one of the city’s greatest Medieval buildings.

Art in Tuscany | Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government