The banner of the Palio of 2 July 2024, created by the Bari artist Giovanni Gasparro, was unveiled in the Cortile del Podestà. The work, which will be presented by the director of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena Axel Hémery, was welcomed by thunderous applause from the public present, who were eager to know the object of desire that will enrich the museum of the Contrada that will win Provenzano’s Career. Many people flocked to the presentation, luckily the ceremony took place regularly in the Cortile del Podestà despite the weather tantrums in the previous hours.
The DRappellone pays homage to the figure of the Virgin with an extremely light chromatic value, accentuating its mystical and transcendent inspiration. The blue white of the veil is its canonical color, symbol of purity. In contrast, the coats of arms at the bottom and the figure of the page, with darker shades that lead back to the worldly dimension. Gasparro painted the Virgin in the upper register of the work, in a glory of angels, crowned as in the effigy venerated in the famous Collegiate Church of Santa Maria in Provenzano and looking, with a hand placed on her chest, downwards, or towards the faithful and the towards the ccity of Siena, gathered for the Palio. One of the angels holds a golden horseshoe, an allusion to the race in Piazza del Campo. In the lower register of DIn Rappellone there are the coats of arms of the three Thirds of the city, namely Terzo di San Martino, Terzo di Camollia and Terzo di Città. A corner of the blue veil of the Madonna of Provenzano, lowered from the sky, itself becomes the silk with which the Drappellone, supported by a rod also golden, extending downwards, for the entire extension of the Cencio. The veil of the Madonna has become the Drapattone. A page, dressed in the traditional black and white dress, headdress and Balzana on the chest, carries the Palio and leans out slightly away from the veil/Drappellone, amplifying the split between real and unreal with which the image is conceived. The coats of arms of the ten Contrade that run the Palio in July are painted at mid-height, on the fake blue banner, simulating gold thread embroidery. The gold is attributed to the divine, the Contrade are thus invested, ideally, with the blessing of the Virgin. The same gold depicting the coats of arms of the Contrade is the one used, in the silk band at the top of the Drappellone, to celebrate the eighty years since the Liberation of Siena which took place on 3 July 1944.
“Going beyond the limits while respecting ourselves – commented Nicoletta Fabio, Mayor of Siena – against the inaction that often does not allow us to see beyond the finger pointing to the moon and which makes us miss opportunities. This is what Gasparro’s painting tells me: he doesn’t want to stop at just one image, but tries to describe to us a different, high, divine depth. The evocative power of this Virgin who envelops the city with her mantle is completed with the more earthly one of the page. A bit like what happens with our celebration characterized by eternal courtly values, but also by everyday moments. This is what characterizes our strength, in wanting to always surpass ourselves while respecting our own identity.”
“The DGasparro’s rapappellone – explained Axel Hémery, director of the National Museums of Siena – is bold in its classicism. Perhaps it is an observation that could be made for all of the author’s pictorial production. But the way in which he renounces narration to delve into the paths of symbol is singular. And the primordial symbol for this great connoisseur of religion and mysticism is the immaculate white of purity and moral perfection. A white that combines the celestial and earthly registers. A white that through a game of mirrors is a repetition of Drapattone. That is, the subject of the Drappellone is a Madonna of Provenzano holding a Drapappellone. And behind this attitude there is the gift of the Palio to the Contrada and to the city and the renewal of an atavistic relationship of veneration and affection. Behind the apparent simplicity of the image lies a vision of vertigo. And of this Cencio depicted, Gasparro makes us understand the solidity, the resistance to being folded and embraced, without ever tearing. The sheet is also a curtain that rises not only on a square and a Carriera, but above all on the ‘world city’ of Siena. To contrast this expanse of white, a bit of black was needed and Balzana was not enough for this effect. The strongest scenographic idea to bring this black to the Palio and to the Piazza is the presence behind the scenes of the Palio holder. By raising the curtain, he symbolizes the part of shadow that surrounds every mystery, but at the same time it is as if he were commenting on the show in the manner of the choir of Greek tragedy or the reciter of Bach’s cantatas. A doubled presence on a real and symbolic level.”
“In these months that have passed between my appointment and the Palio – added the painter Giovanni Gasparro – I have tried to understand the cultural, social, spiritual dynamics, and everything that is so singularly intertwined in the world of the Palio and makes it a fascinating universe how indefinable, in its uniqueness. I let myself be pleasantly influenced by the city, its inhabitants and its splendid art collections, which had such a large part in my process of creative elaboration of the Drepellant”.
Present at the table of the authorities during the ceremony Also the artist who created Masgalano, Lara Androvandi, the philosopher Aldo Colonetti, who illustrated Masgalano himself, Paolo Rossi, presidentand it’sthe Group Donatori di Sangue delle Contrade (the association that offered Masgalano 2024), thegoldsmith Cosetta Francini, who has made on Special prize for the best standard-bearers of the Palio of July 2nd, Carlo Piperno, Prior of the Contrada della Lupa (who offered the special prize), the Rector of the Magistrate of the Contrade, Emanuele Squarci, and the general secretary of the Municipality of Siena, Giulio Nardi.
