Siena, 26 June 2024 – That white coat dthe Virgin who becomes Drappellone, silk of a Cencio yet to be written, is the ‘cipher’ of the splendid mystical Palio by Giovanni Gasparro.
Who expressly did not want to include symbols, colors and signs in the work dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Siena but, in reality, there are many. That white coat evokes, for some, the completely white Drappellone of August 2011 won by the Giraffa.
And also in the 2017 Palio the mantle of the Madonna goes down to the base of the silk. Giraffe whose symbol is placed higher than all, therefore closer to the Madonna, without respecting the order of drawing lots.
And precisely to achieve the Blessed Anna Maria Taigi Giovanni Gasparro had come to Siena for the first time.
It’s not just this in the Drappellone which enlarges the hearts of the lecaioli due to that orange color with which the sky above the Virgin is tinged in which others, however, at a glance, ‘read’ more the pink of the Valdimontone.
And then that shoe lost by the horse, held in the hand of the angel, almost seems to evoke that luck will repay it Contrada who lost an iron and slipped in the last Career when the victory was now his, the Panther.
And again: the combination of the orange, the white and the black coat of the man carrying the Palio would make one think of the colors of the She-Wolf.
Above the word July 2, 2024, however, there are the symbols of the Panther and the Unicorn, next to that of the Caterpillar. There are those who go further, already thinking to the barbers and to the coat of the Veranu horse which could recall the color of the sky.
But this is only the beginning of the ‘hunt’ for the symbols and evocative sensations that Drappellone transmits. And whoever wins will then find the ‘thread’ indicated by the painter.
