L’arte e Dieu

Slept really badly last night…not sure if it’s the heat, the bed, pillows or just an overstimulated mind, but very annoying to face the day feeling rather jaded.
We had some tea and toast then headed out…it was a bit cloudier than yesterday but still warm. We walked to the Cathedral via the bus station to get tickets for our trip to Florence tomorrow and San Gimignano on Thursday and all seems very straightforward with lots of options for times of buses. Arriving at the Duomo we had to queue a little for tickets (seemed a very badly organised system for crowd management but we got there in the end!
We wandered around inside the humbug striped interior….eavesdropping on some of the tour guides which taught us some interesting background eg on artists’ (lack of) understanding of perspective and how they had given the illusion of depth in carving depictions of crowds on the pulpit,. Loved the little library where 14th century illuminated manuscripts were on show, and the many floor decorations of battles and town symbols. We could have done with some better explanations on signs, but still enjoyed the visit and saw the Michelangelo and Donatello sculptures and Duccio altarpiece
Afterwards I used my every museum pass to visit the Panicoteca Nazionale gallery (after a false start when the door we found said it was closed!) whilst LE had a wander round a new neighbourhood (with a dolphin symbol on every corner). Enjoyed the many religious paintings and the sense of the explosion of art in the 14th and 15th centuries before the Black Death pandemic that had stopped the expansion of the cathedral amongst other deadly impacts. Sent lots of photos to VG for her art history expertise and commentary…has become a ritual on these trips!
Once done there I met up with LE who’d found us a lovely little restaurant for lunch (we also checked out another place but that was full so we booked for lunch on Friday). We settled down with our Aperol and beer, and had a lovely shared starter of aubergine ‘cakes’ (small soufflé style) and Parmesan cream….delicious and really tasty and light. I then had wild boar pappardelle and LE had steak tartare. We both devoured every mouthful…perfect! We were stuffed, and staggered off towards the Il Campo…me to continue to visit the set of museums and galleries and LE back to the flat to join a work call.
I started with the civic museum, which was not so much the full history of the city but the building that housed the city’s governance. Amazing to see the huge rooms for judges and officials completely covered by frescoed walls and ceilings, the beautifully carved choir stalls in the chapel, and the worn floor tiles from hundreds of years of use by all those legislators, huddling in corners to plot and processing around on ceremonial occasions. The windows looking over the piazza all had numbered viewing stations, presumably to give the officials and dignitaries good views of the Palio races and other events. The windows themselves had beautiful roundels of glass with delicate colours.
I walked from there to the last of the galleries/museums on my ticket, Santa Maria della Scala, which was huge and really interesting. Had been used as a pilgrim hostel and hospital from 10th century to 1970s, and full of (more!) frescoes and treasures such as the phial of the blood of Christ (apparently!), and gorgeous paintings (a Madonna and child included here by Domenico di Pace). Deep in the lower floors there was a tiny chapel where St Catherine herself apparently worshipped, and more rooms than I could explore as I felt I couldn’t take any more in!
I sat in the square outside, overlooking the Duomo, and had a pot of tea whilst I read a book I’d picked up on the art of Siena. Lovely to just relax and read in the sunshine, although I started to doze as my lack of sleep caught up with me!
I moved to Il Campo to soak up the last of the late aftrnoon sun until LE joined me, then we wandered through a new area on the way home and stopped at a little bar for a drink and nibbles…turned out we were near an evening class teaching young hopeful flag bearers accompanied by (luckily!) an already accomplished drummer. Great atmosphere!
We walked home, taking photos of various door knockers and other street furniture, and made up a supper of the meats and cheeses we bought yesterday, along with some fresh focaccia and asparagus that we’d bought today…delicious!
Afterwards we tried to follow the news in Italian on the TV (my Duolingo-based language skills haven’t been much use so far here!) whilst checking through A’s application for a promoted role at work, then bed fairly early… very tired!