The Antiques Fair returns on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May and as with every edition of the event the Signa Arretii Association opens the doors of its headquarters in via Bicchieraia with a special initiative. The theme of this weekend will be the discovery of the scenography of Piazza Grande, the recently restored shields which in a few weeks will return to embellish Piazza Grande awaiting the two editions of the Giostra del Saracino. At the Signa Arretii venue it will be possible to see some of the shields up close and delve into the history of the scenography, what the shields represent and why they are so placed on the four sides of Piazza Grande.
The current scenography was inaugurated in 1997 and represents Piazza Grande as a “neutral” place in which each facade translates into the representation of neighborhoods, noble families, institutions of the medieval municipality and the countryside. As a whole, the complex of coats of arms affixed to the four facades offers a cross-section of what was the institutional, social and political reality of the city and the territory of Arezzo at the time in which the re-enactment is ideally set.
And so the north side of the Vasari Loggia hosts the symbols of the Municipality of Arezzo and the four Districts, the east side, between Piaggia San Martino and Borgunto, the coats of arms of the Municipality of Arezzo on the facade of Palazzo Acuti, at the time the seat of the Judiciary, and on the sides the coats of arms of some noble Arezzo families of the fourteenth century and of the castles of the countryside. On the south side there are the coats of arms of the noble families and between the battlements of the Faggiolana Tower (called Brizzolari Tower) the shields with the colors of the Districts. Finally, the west side of the Palazzo di Fraternita hosts the symbols of the institutional power of medieval Arezzo: here are positioned the three Arezzo municipal coats of arms (Municipality, City of Arezzo and People) and on the sides, together with the Guelph and Ghibelline parts, the Chapter of the Cathedral and the Parish Church, the shield of Bishop Guido Tarlati from Pietramala with the three miters and the symbol of the Fraternity of the Laity.
Appointment on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May in via Bicchieraia at the Signa Arretii headquarters from 9.30 to 12.30 and from 15.30 to 18.30.
