applause for Gasparro’s Drappellone

(ANSA) – SIENA, JUNE 26 – A thunderous applause welcomed the Palio created by the artist Giovanni Gasparro with a particular mention of the eightieth anniversary of the Liberation of Siena which took place on 3 July 1944: the 10 districts of the career in program for July 2nd, dedicated to the Madonna of Provenzano. “I dedicate it to my mother who passed away last May” said Gasparro during the presentation. “The Drappellone pays homage in an extremely light chromatic value, accentuating its mystical and transcendent inspiration, to the figure of the Virgin, the blue white of the veil is her canonical color symbol of purity; in contrast, the coats of arms at the bottom and the figure of the page , with darker tones that lead back to the worldly dimension” explains a note from the Municipality of Siena. 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 towards the city 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 the Drappellone there are the coats of arms of the three Thirds of the city. 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 districts are thus invested, ideally, with the blessing of the Virgin. The same gold depicting the coats of arms of the districts is that used, in the silk band at the top of the Drappellone, to celebrate the eighty years since the Liberation of Siena. “Going beyond the limits while respecting ourselves against inaction which often does not allow us to see beyond the finger pointing to the moon and which makes us miss opportunities – commented the mayor Nicoletta Fabio -, this is what the painting by Gasparro who doesn’t want to stop at a single image, but tries to describe to us a different, high, divine depth”. (HANDLE).