A roar of applause welcomed the Palio created by the Apulian artist Giovanni Gasparro with a particular mention of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Siena which took place on 3 July 1944: the 10 districts will compete for it on 2 July.
“I dedicate it to my mother who passed away last May” said Gasparro during the presentation.
“The Drappellone pays homage to the figure of the Virgin with an extremely clear chromatic value, accentuating its mystical and transcendent inspiration (it is in fact inspired by the Madonna of Provenzano, patron saint of the city of Siena), the blue-white of the veil is its canonical symbolic color 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” 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.
An important exhibition “Passions in the field” dedicated to Giovanni Gasparro was inaugurated on 10 June in the Tuscan city.
Among the works on display are also those recently acquired by the municipality of Terni Saint Valentine heals Craton’s son, Martyrdom of Saint Valentine And Valentine of Terni, Bishop and Martyr with which Gasparro celebrated the patron saint of Terni. The municipal administration lent them to the municipality of Siena.
