INDEX
1. SIENA - MUSEUMS AND PALAZZI
2. SIENA - CHURCHES
3. PLACES WITHIN HALF AN HOUR OF BARONTOLI
6. SIENESE PAINTERS
7. SAINTS IN ART
BUONCONVENTO
A small town of some – albeit moderate – interest, on the way to other major sights (Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Monteoliveto).
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Town hall with its tiny tower Medieval house
Just over half an hour from Barontoli, via a pretty route over the hills. Go through San Rocco towards Grosseto. After about 8 km turn left towards Fontazzi. Go through Fontazzi to Casciano di Murlo and turn right at the T-junction towards Vescovaldo di Murlo. After about two kilometers, turn right towards Vescovaldo di Murlo and SS 2 Cassia, and continue following signs to Vescovaldo di Murlo. When you reach Vescovaldo, drive through the village and start following signs to Buonconvento.
Buonconvento lies on the Via Cassia at the confluence of the Arbia and Ombrone rivers and has long been a transit point on the Siena-Rome road. It also lies on a fertile plain and was a successful market town for surrounding farmers. Its main claim to fame is that the Holy Roman Emperor died in Buonconvento in 1313 shortly after capturing the town.
The town is surrounded by 14th century walls (much restored; the town took a big knock in the Second World War). One fine gate remains, the Siena Gate on the north of the town, with magnificent wooden doors. In side, there is a tiny historic centre (‘centro storico’) boasting a mini medieval town hall complete with coats of arms on the front and a small tower modelled on the Mangia of Siena.
A few doors further long, in the Palazzo Ricci, a small museum has been installed, as usual collecting together the works of art from surrounding churches. The top floor has the earliest stuff – including some not very exciting possible Duccios and Lorenzettis; a pretty-pretty Virgin and Child by Sano di Pietro; an attractive Botticelli-style Virgin and child with angels by Matteo di Giovanni; and an interesting collection of early metalwork. The next floor down contains the 15th century paintings, including a polished rendering of the Virgin feeding the Child by Il Brescianino, more metalwork and a good small collection of ancient vestments, including a most frivolous brocade cope made in Venice in 1771 covered in colourful swans, boats and little castles. The bottom floor is full of all that is worst in Sienese 17th century painting with works that are florid and sentimental, full of saints casting their eyes to heaven. There is, however, a splendidly naive statue of an unnamed pope at the far end.
The Palazzo Ricci itself is not without interest because of its unusual (for Italy) English ‘Liberty’ style decor, a conceit of the person who inherited the house in 1908. The staircase has some good designs, and on the top floor a bathroom of the period has been preserved.
The nearby church of Saints Peter and Paul (1450, redone in the 1700s) is of little interest as a building, but has managed to hang onto a couple of attractive 15th century paintings - a Virgin and Child by Matteo di Giovanni (c.1450) on the left and a Virgin and Saints by his pupil Pietro Orioli on the right . There is also and a rather primitive 15th century fresco.
Buonconvento has a surprising number of restaurants for its size, so is a good place to stop for lunch.
2005.
MURLO: ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
A small museum in the little fortified village of Murlo (on the way to Buonconvento, just after Casciano di Murlo) with the Etruscan remains dug up from an archaeological site nearby; not worth a special expedition, but worth popping in if you are passing by.
Entrance to the tiny walled village
Museum open mornings and afternoons except Monday
The nearby archaeological site is on a small hill called Poggio Civitale which was a flourishing Etruscan settlement 800-500 BC – this was presumably a rich agricultural area for the Etruscans. The museum is housed in two ancient palazzi and has just been thoroughly modernized, with lots of descriptions – some also in English. The best thing in it is the recreation of the roof of an Etruscan building (second floor), with the terracotta bust of a man wearing a cowboy hat on the top. There are also gargoyles and sphinxes, and friezes below (stamped terracotta tiles) showing horse-races complete with the large cup awarded to the winner (perhaps an early version of the Palio).
2003
CASTIGLIONE DEL BOSCO
An agricultural settlement that has been turned into a five-star hotel, whose tiny chapel has the last authenticated work of the great Sienese painter Pietro Lorenzetti.
The road to Castiglione del Bosco is well signed and turns off the Buonconvento-Casciano di Murlo road about 10 kilometres north of Buonconvento. After the turn-off, the road quckly becomes an unpaved “strada bianca” (white road). After another 5 kilometres or so, well-watered and aggressively green golf courses appear on either side. The very discreet and unmarked entrance to the hotel is a little further along on the left. The road goes on to Montalcino, but is not recommended as it is extremely tortuous and slow – it is better to go back to Buonconvento.
Castiglione was a strong point with a castle in the middle ages, but the castle fell into ruins (part of which can be seen today) and for the last few centuries the place has been no more than the centre of a large agricultural estate. The estate is in the Montalcino wine-growing area and was one of the pioneer producers of that city’s “Brunello di Montalcino” – a wine that was developed only at the beginning of the last century. In 2003, a member of the Ferragamo family acquired the property and turned the whole thing into an extraordinary 5-star hotel in the middle of nowhere (it is only accessible along a winding dirt track) with fantastic views on all sides. It is more a luxury village than a hotel with the accommodation spread out over a number of villas and a street with eating places for hotel guests.
The ruins of the medieval castle are in the background and the campanile of the church is
at the end of the street on the right.
For art-lovers the attraction is the tiny chapel of San Michele (ask at the reception to see it), which dates back to the time when Castiglione was a working fortress. A fresco painted by Pietro Lorenzetti in 1345 (shortly before he died in the Black Death) covers the end wall. The guides say that the central panel portrays the Annunciation. But it seems more likely that it is a representation of the Angel who according to legend came to warn the Virgin that she was about to die, as the angel is carrying a palm rather than a lily and the Virgin looks rather mature (Duccio painted a similar scene). The saints on either side are Anthony Abbot, John the Baptist and Stephen on the left; and Michael the Archangel, Bartholomew and Francis on the right. Michael the Archangel is traditionally the Harbinger of Death, so a scene foretelling the Virgin’s decease may well have been chosen because the church is dedicated to St Michael. The fresco was rediscovered only in 1876.
2013, revised 2015.