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Once before we walked the streets of Siena on a numbingly cold day in December 1998. The frigid weather then had hampered our first visit and we were determined to do better. Accordingly, on this fine spring day, we parked our car near the Stadium on the far side of San Domenico Church (in this photo) and off we went:
This huge, brick church is certainly spacious inside but plain and rather austere.
Much more to our liking is the Duomo, as different from San Domenico as extroverts are from introverts:
The scanned postcard above is absent the ever-present scaffolding and mobs of admirers. I was, however, able to capture the richly ornamented facade without postcard help:
Interior shots of any quality were also impossible because of the throngs milling through --- and this wasn’t even summer! These postcards will have to suffice:
The Duomo’s interior is more than a match for its handsome exterior. Inside is a veritable explosion of Renaissance art, frescoes, striped columns, marble inlays, a Pisano pulpit, statues by Michelangelo, sculptures by Bernini --- and the incredible Piccolomini Library.
During our December tour of long ago, either this Library off the nave was closed or, due to the few people inside the church, we simply missed its small doorway. This time there was no missing it due to the queue trying to gain entrance against the tide of visitors trying to exit.
Opposite the entrance, large windows flood the room with natural light. The other walls contain frescoes over 550 years old that have never been restored yet are as vivid as if newly painted.
There are 10 scenes in all, each framed with an arch, depicting events in the life of one Aeneas Piccolomini, a local boy who became Pope Pius II in 1458 --- the same Pope who worked so energetically remodeling his birthplace, Pienza. Between his departure from home as a young man of 27 and his ascension as pope, he was the very essence of the Renaissance Man --- a lover of the arts and pretty women, a writer, speaker, poet, diplomat, man of the world, sometimes heretical but eventually reconciled to the church.
Here is one of the panels showing him on his knees receiving the laurel crown of a poet. As such, he wrote love poetry, bawdy stories, a play and a candid autobiography.
Repentant for his wild youth, he later entered the priesthood and quickly rose in the church, becoming pope at age 53. In his last days, he wrote, “I do not deny my past. I have been a great wanderer, wandering away from the right path. But at least I know it, and hope the knowledge has not come too late.” His life, indeed, was anything but ordinary.
Back in the sunshine, we headed for Il Campo, Siena’s main square in front of the town hall:
This is one large gathering spot ...
... attracting tourists from all over the world:
Finally, satiated with Siena, we took backcountry roads home to Montalcino and were impressed, once again, by the peacefulness and beauty of rural Tuscany:
