Siena : History and art

History and art

Many visitors of our website show that their interest in Siena goes beyond the Palio. Rightly so. Siena is without a doubt the most beautiful later city in the world. A preliminary glance at any book on general art history makes it clear that European art history from the period 1250 to 1340 is to a great extent the art history of Siena. Sienese creations of architecture, sculpture and painting are among the most important illustrations of the period.

Siena is located on three hills, with surprising perspectives, winding and ascending streets and alleys, churches and palaces whose interiors beg to be visited, an art heritage of the highest quality and where everything finally comes together in the magical Piazza del Campo , the place of the Palio.

The Palio-Experience

It may not be the race that does it, but the unparalleled backdrop that seems to be made for this event and actually isn’t, and around it in the center the contrade with their midieval headquarters and often half-hidden stables in the most surprising places.

Or the stables of Giraffa next to and under the baroque church of Provenzano and the stables of Selva in the Vicolo delle Carrozze. Or what about Aquila in the small Via dei Percennesi where you can experience a medieval experience rarely found in Europe.

And who makes a stable in a deconsecrated baroque chapel, unless it is Chiocciola in the Cappella della Madonna del Rosario. And where in the world are open-air parties organized in winding, up and down streets such as in Torre and in Onda . And who celebrates on a small square bordered on one side by a baroque church and on the other side by the oldest surviving bank building in the world, such as Civetta or Giraffa on the square in front of the High Renaissance church of Provenzano, which unfolds beautifully after a long descending street. Aquila celebrates his victories within the grandiose setting of the unfinished nave of the Duomo.

In short, the integration into the urban setting of contrade and the use of medieval streets, squares, palaces, churches and chapels is an essential part of the Palio Experience and an example of a total but high-level aesthetic alienation.

Here follows a history of Siena with a great deal of attention to its cultural and artistic achievements, and separately a concise tourist guide for those who want to see a little more of this city. Finally, there is also a culinary guide, with tips for restaurants and bars, culinary considerations and an introduction to the wines of the Province of Siena.

LOCATION – DEMOGRAPHY – CLIMATE – ISOLATION – LANDSCAPES

Siena is located on three hills and is a stone city with only greenery in the center on the edge of the old city walls, in the center of Tuscany, about 70 km. south of Florence. It is the capital of a province of the same name in the greater Tuscany region. At the last census of 2011, Siena had a population of 52,839, to which approximately 6,000 temporary residents may be added, mainly students and a group of executives from the local bank. This is a marked decline from the 1971 census when the city still had 65,634 inhabitants. The explanation for this is the extraordinary increase in the price of real estate due to the expansion of the bank and university, not only in terms of temporary residents, but also because of the large and expensive spaces occupied by these institutions in the center of the city. In addition, Siena has developed a larger and more expensive shopping center, especially compared to the very provincial character of the city well into the 1980s.

The climate is pleasant to the south, not too cold in winter, usually very hot in summer but sometimes with a strong refreshing wind, very pleasant in autumn except for the classic rain showers that peak between the end of October and the beginning of December.

When the construction of the Autostrada del Sole started in 1964, they did not go from Florence via Siena to Rome, as the medieval Via Francigena did, but instead opted for a large curve via Arezzo. It contributed to a certain isolation in the 20th century. People in Siena are still complaining about the inadequate, i.e. too narrow and poor-quality connections with Florence, with the Autostrada del Sole and the south of the province. It has been worked on for several years. On the other hand, its isolation may have saved Siena from many of the “blessings” of modern times.

Finally, the town is surrounded by beautiful and varied landscapes : the delightful Chianti hills to the north towards Castellina in Chianti and to the east towards Castelnuovo Berardenga and Gaiole in Chianti, the melancholy Montagnola to the west and the unique Crete in South.

Mi raccomando :  don’t look around too much at this breathtaking landscape in every season, but always look at the road and steer.

Real amateurs can ride the course all year round. There are no less than 90 direction indicators and 80 signs with kilometer indications along the road “L’Eroica – Percorso Cicloturistico”.

You will find information at the tourist office of Siena on the Piazza del Campo and that of Terre di Siena on the Piazza del Duomo, as well as on the internet sites of L’Eroica and Terredisiena.

History

PART I – ETRUSQUES AND ROMANS

After the fall of the Roman Empire, a dark period followed in which Siena was conquered first by the Lombards and then by the Franks of Charlemagne, who ruled through an imperial count. In the 10th century, a modest revival of trade and, not to be underestimated, of pilgrimages to Rome began in Italy. Siena was right on the famous Via Francigena pilgrimage route that ran from Canterbury in England across France and Switzerland via the Tuscan coast and inland to Rome.

In the course of the 12th century, Florence and Siena in Tuscany took over from Pisa and Lucca as the main trading cities. Siena became more than an independent city, it became a city-state, a republic led by aristocratic consoli, after conquering an area that included much of Chianti and more northeastern San Gimignano, also going far south as far as Massa Maritima. The feudal nobility in their fortified castles submitted to the Sienese Comune.

In 1240 the Ateneo or University of Siena was founded, one of the oldest in Europe, with two faculties, medicine and law. In the meantime it has become a full university with departments outside the city and far into the province. An interesting derivative of it is the so-called Università per Stranieri in which summer courses in Italian Language and Culture are given, followed by, among others, the administrator of this site and its first, attentive and critical reader.

La Grande Tavola

In the 13th century, the Sienese Bonsignori family was considered the largest bank in Europe, and was respectfully called La Grande Tavola or The Great Table, as banking activities were then carried out in the open air, seated at a Tavola or Table or also called Banca hence Bank . They were the uncrowned kings of the largest international fairs of the Middle Ages in Champagne. When Orlando Bonsignori died in 1273, things quickly went downhill and in 1301 the bank went bankrupt, partly under pressure from Florentine competitors. A first major financial shock wave swept through Europe. Other Sienese bankers such as Salimbeni and Tolomei took over. The latter were the bankers of, among others, Philip the Fair, King of France, whom we know from the Battle of the Golden Spurs. But Siena’s golden moment was over. The new generation of Florentine bankers led by the Bardi and Peruzzi took over power in the European financial world until they too went bankrupt due to excessive loans to the King of England.

Guelphs and Ghibellines : the Battle of Montaperti – 1260

After all, the relationship with Florence was always very conflicting. Medieval Italy was divided into two major political camps: the Guelphs who were pro-popist, i.e. the pope as ultimate ruler of Italy, and the Ghibellines who were pro-imperial. Both parties also had a cunning, even diabolical underlying idea: the Guelphs believed that the pope was after all too weak to interfere with the cities that were strongly attached to their autonomy, and the Ghibellines were pleased that their feudal ruler, the German Emperor, was in Germany, ie too far away to really interfere in Italian affairs. Florence was Welfian, Guelfa in Italian, and Siena Ghibbelijns or Ghibellina.

I Nove or the Nine Lords and the Creation of the Most Beautiful Square in the World

The Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala

Siena dominates the painting of Europe

Around 1270, the new European painting was born in Florence through Cimabue and his brilliant pupil Giotto. Siena found an answer in the formidable Duccio di Buoninsegna (ca. 1255 – 1319). Duccio, however, remained more like Giotto influenced by the Byzantine masters and opted for supple, dynamic lines and an extremely refined design (Compare his Maestà or Enthroned Madonna in the Uffizi Museum in Florence with Giotto’s, which is more powerful and plastic). In 1311 his great Maestà, a Madonna enthroned among saints and angels, and with dozens of magnificent small panels depicting the Life of Christ, was carried in triumph through the streets of Siena from his studio to the Duomo. Today we can admire them in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Museum of the Art Treasures of the Duomo), which is embedded in the skeleton of the unfinished nave of the church. In the museum itself, one can reach a balustrade on one of the walls of the skeleton via a steep staircase and be rewarded with a breathtaking view of the city and the surrounding landscape.

Giotto turned out to be succeeded in Florence by a few good but not exceptional painters. They did exist in Siena, which dominated European painting for almost 50 years, often with a more plastic style like Duccio and increasingly refined like the Florentines.

Duccio was succeeded first by Simone Martini (1284-1344), whose frescoes we can admire in the Palazzo Comunale, and then by the brothers Pietro (ca. 1280-1348) and Ambrogio Lorenzetti (ca. 1290-1348). Both died of the plague. Ambrogio’s will has been preserved from June 9, 1348 in which he transferred all his goods to a religious brotherhood, because he knew that not only he, but also his wife and three daughters could die at any moment.

Ambrogio is the master of what is the first and possibly the most important political work of art in all of art history. In 1338-1339 he painted the so-called Allegory of the Good Government, the Allegory of the Consequences of the Good Government in the City and the Countryside, on three walls over a total of 35 meters, on behalf of De Negen in their Council Chamber of the Town Hall and the Allegory of the Consequences of Bad Government in the City and Country. The first fresco on the back wall of the room shows the city rulers surrounded by all kinds of Virtues that assist them in their work, a beautiful but rather theoretical work. But on the right, Ambrogio amazes with a wonderful panoramic and lively representation of Siena and the surrounding countryside in which all kinds of activities take place, testifying to peace and prosperity and progress. We get a unique insight into the society of that time with schools, workshops, construction activities, trade, transport, agriculture, hunting and fishing. The landscape outside the city is still the same as today. On the other side robbery, murder, arson and rape. However, this fresco is badly damaged. Large fragments are missing, but you will still find some penetrating scenes here, including the symbolic representation of all kinds of vices. It is certainly a genius piece of propaganda art for the Reign of the Nine.

After the Black Death, Siena had numerous refined, sometimes good but rather uninspired masters. The dynamics had also disappeared in the artistic field.

The Fall of the Nine and the Reign of the Twelve

And the enlightened reign of the Nine also came to an end. On the one hand there were accusations of corruption and mismanagement, but the Nine were especially powerless against a wave of disorder, violence, arson and murder in the years after the Black Death. The “magnati” like Tolomei and Salimbeni fought against the city government and fought among themselves. Threatening famine was fought through higher taxes to buy food. There was a slowdown in international trade and banking, and mercenary robber bands swept through the countryside. On March 25, 1355, the entire city government, including the judicial, financial and military officials, was driven out by the mob with the support of magnati, and replaced by I Dodici or The Twelve, i.e. 12 representatives of the people and back 12 nobles, who strangely enough administrative principles of the deposed Nine.

Historians are very lenient towards The Nine and consider their reign as harmonious, calm yet dynamic, original and innovative because of the emphasis they placed on formalizing their decisions into fixed rules, which was far from evident at the time. In short, it was a short period of Buon Governo, whose ideals Ambrogio Lorenzetti had recorded.

PART III – From the LATE MIDDLE AGES over the RENAISSANCE to the 19th CENTURY

City of Saints and Popes

Siena was a city of many saints. The most important was Saint Catherine (1347-1380). In 1309, the French pope Clement V left Rome for Avignon, much to the dismay of the Italians for religious but also financial reasons. Rome attracted hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every year who, by the way, passed through Siena along the Via Francigena.

In 1159, Orlando Bandinelli (ca. 1105-1181) became the first Sienese pope as Alexander III. He had to oppose the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who wanted more influence in Italy at the expense of the pope. The emerging northern Italian cities united in the Lombard League, did not want imperial interference and supported Alexander. Here the seeds were sown for the great internal Italian conflict between papal Guelfs and imperialist Ghibellines. (Read the History of Siena, more specifically about the Battle of Montaperti and note that Alexander’s hometown was imperialist). In 1177 in Venice the emperor had to kneel before the pope and submit. In gratitude, the Lombards founded a new fortress city which they called Alessandria.

In 1458, Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405-1464) became the second Sienese pope as Pius II. He was a man of the world who wrote mildly pornographic poems in his youth and who has remained famous for two reasons, one now almost forgotten and one for eternity. In 1456 Constantinople fell and became Istanbul. Pius II wrote a letter to Sultan Mehmet II asking him to renounce Islam and embrace Christianity, prerequisites for becoming Christian Emperor of Constantinople. The sultan did not answer. Pius II was also the last pope to campaign for a crusade to liberate the Holy Land. He died in the port of Ancona where he was trying to form a fleet to go to battle. His biography is immortalized in the Libreria Piccolomini of the Duomo of Siena, a small room decorated with charming, very decorative but by no means masterful frescoes (1502-1507) by Pinturicchio from Umbria.

He is best known for what he did with Corsignano. The pope was a descendant of a distinguished Sienese family, but born on their estate in the village of Corsignano, about 40 kilometers from Siena itself. When he became pope, he commissioned to do something with his native village to the Florentine sculptor-contractor Bernardo Rossellino, confidant of Leon Battista Alberti, the greatest architect of the time, who probably sent plans.

On September 22, 1503, Francesco Piccolomini Todeschini (1439-1503) from Siena became pope as Pius III and died 27 days later on October 18. There is nothing to say about him except that he was the pope between the infamous Alexander VI Borgia and Julius II, the patron of the new Saint Peter and of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and much more.

And finally in 1655 Fabio Chigi (1599-1667) from Siena became pope Alexander VII. He too owes his fame to a work of art rather than to a grand administration of the church. He commissioned Bernini to build the grandiose colonnade for St. Peter’s in Rome.

Pandolfo Patrucci : an experiment with an Overlord

Siena remained an independent republic and city-state against any pressure from Florence, which expanded its territory to include other major Tuscan cities such as Arezzo (1384) and Pisa (1406 and 1509). A remarkable period was the reign of Pandolfo Petrucci (1452-1512), who from 1487 almost ruled the city as sole ruler. He was feared and hated, among other things, because he intertwined his own financial and economic interests with the government of the state and was ruthless towards his many enemies. On the other hand, he was a tower of strength in protecting the republic against foreign enemies in a very turbulent period of Italian history. He was called the “Defensor Libertatis” or “Defender of Liberty” against the meddling of French kings and especially against Cesare Borgia, bastard son of Pope Alexander VI, model for Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and the most dangerous man of his time. Not far from the Duomo is the Palazzo del Magnifico in Siena.

The Renaissance: “Firenze is not 40 but 40,000 miles from Siena”

In the artistic field, something very strange happened. While Siena was a pioneer in the artistic field at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century with its own variation on the Florentine innovations, the Sienese now continued to opt for a refined, ossified and therefore outdated style. The Florentines had developed the new Renaissance style, with great attention to space and perspective, with plastic figures based on a careful study of human anatomy, and with a great sense of the psychology of the characters. The Sienese did not seem to understand this and painted “as if Florence were not 40 but 40,000 miles from Siena” as the famous art historian Bernard Berenson aptly wrote. An exception was Sassetta (1391-1450) who joined the first Florentine masters such as Masaccio, Uccello and Lippi, but was not followed in Siena.

Architecturally, they continued to build in Gothic style until well into the 17th century, which is unique in Italy. The few Renaissance buildings in Siena are mostly Florentine constructions such as the impressive Palazzo Piccolomini, close to the Piazza del Campo, built for the family of Pope Pius II.

And the Sienese had not forgotten banking. Agostino Chigi (1466-1520), member of one of the most powerful and wealthiest Sienese families, arrived in Rome in 1487 as his father’s servant, first became banker to the notorious Borgia Pope Alexander VI and other monarchs, became banker to the pope in 1503 Julius II, who sponsored his conquest of central Italy, the Papal States, became the financial backer of the construction of St. Peter’s, of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo and of so many other works of art of the High Renaissance. He was active as a papal diplomat, and also became an entrepreneur with activities all over Europe, at one point employing 20,000 people, and as the richest man in Christendom, was honored by the Republic of Siena with the honorary title “Il Magnifico”, strangely enough a title which was also sometimes used to designate Pandolfo Petrucci.

1555 The Fall of the Republic of Siena

Lorenzo il Magnifico dei Medici, the uncrowned ruler of Florence in the 15th century, had failed to conquer Siena. His descendants succeeded. In 1537, the Medici became hereditary dukes of Florence with the support of the powerful Emperor Charles V. And on April 21, 1555, the Republic of Siena was conquered by the Medici and troops of Emperor Charles after a one-year siege, exhausted by famine. A group of Sienese did not surrender, fled 25 kilometers further to the small town of Montalcino and founded the Repubblica di Siena riparata in Montalcino, roughly translated “the Republic of Siena restored to Montalcino”.

The conquest of the republic except for that one brave town was confirmed by the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559, which ended the Italian Wars and the conflicts between Habsburgs and France, and Montalcino surrendered. On August 27, 1569, Pope Pius V officially named the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

A provincial, hushed Nest : “creaking, flaking, disappearing, crumbling, rotting”

And Siena became what it is today : a provincial nest of extraordinary beauty. Foreign cultured travelers such as the English Lords on their Grand Tour in the 18th century were struck by the time that seemed to have stood still in Siena and left the city with mixed feelings and little understanding of its Gothic character, which was no longer in vogue and had yet to be rediscovered, as happened especially from the 19th century.

The great American novelist Henry James visited Siena in 1873 and mercilessly described the city: “Everything is cracking, peeling, fading, crumbling, rotting” or “Everything is cracking, flaking, disappearing, crumbling, rotting”. “No young Sienese can rest their eyes on something youthful : they open on a world (battered) exhausted or battered, and (befouled) rotten or unusable by long use. But he added: “the city softens and does not irritate”. He was surprised by the nightlife of the elite who invited him to concerts and intellectual conversations at 2 am. James was fascinated with Siena and returned often. In 1909 he wrote that he had actually made a mistake with his first too negative judgment (poor judgment). In “Italian Hours“, his Italian travel memories, he therefore divides Siena into two chapters “Siena Early and Late“.

PART IV – THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The French General De Monsabert, a man of culture, had to liberate Siena and ordered General Beçancon, his artillery commander, who asked for orders, to shoot only at what was built after the 18th century. “But then I cannot shoot, mon général”, and so it happened. Siena was liberated on July 3, 1944 with minimal damage. (Read also the story: The last Battle of the War – The Palio of Peace)

It was not until the 20th century that Siena sought to join the new world. The Policlinico Le Scotte, the gigantic new hospital outside the city, became a pioneer in the medical field, partly under the impetus of the university. Famous Russian dissident Sakharov chose Siena for a complicated operation on his eyes.

The Istituto Achille Sclavo became an international name in the pharmaceutical field, employs 3,000 people, is now American-owned and also partners with Swiss giant Novartis.

And another important economic activity has been added: the agriturismo or holiday in Tuscan farmhouses. Farmers lived and worked until 1945 in the so-called mezzadria system from the Middle Ages. The land belonged to mostly noble landowners. The farmers were obliged to share the produce with them and were actually not allowed to leave the farms, a semi-serfdom. Mussolini’s fascists did not intervene either and lost the confidence of the peasantry. During and after the liberation, the communists were the strongest advocates of distributing those lands among the poor peasants. This explains why Tuscany, alongside Umbria, Le Marche and Emilia-Romagna, the agricultural areas of central Italy are still “red” strongholds despite their great wealth. In addition, many farmers moved to the factories in Milan and Turin during Italy’s economic boom from the 1950s. Many farms were suddenly empty. And from the late 1970s, many farmers understood that they were actually on gold mines. Farms were restored and converted into beautiful holiday homes or bought up by foreign millionaires and Belgian politicians.

Finally, I would like to draw attention to the not entirely unjustified description of Siena as the safest city in the world, which is no mean feat in a country like Italy with its known problems. This safety was always explained by the social control exercised by the contrade on their inhabitants and members with their age-old tradition of mutual assistance and organization of neighborhood activities. In addition, anthropologists pointed to the strange effect of the Palio, days often marked by riots between contrade. Zoologist Desmond Morris once wrote: “Twice a year, they cream off the violence in Siena”. Twice a year, in an explosion of Palio excitement, all accumulated unease of any kind is channeled and creamed off, after which the city is fairly quiet for the rest of the year. And indeed, it is difficult to understand that Sienese can continue to live together after the emotions of the Palio, and yet it is. The Palio separates and connects. However, the depopulation of the historic center may lead to a reduction in the intensity of relations. Some already speak disparagingly about the “quattrogiornisti”, contradaioli that are never seen during the year but only appear during the four hectic Palio days.

It should also be noted that in 1989 Prince Charles made a remarkably controversial documentary for the BBC, “A Vision of Britain”, a full-frontal attack on contemporary architecture in Britain, citing Siena as an example of how things can and should be done. .

PART OF – THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

The Fall of Monte dei Paschi di Siena or The End of the Myth of Il Buon Governo

La Muccona

And Siena also amazed the sporting world with achievements beyond the capacity of a small provincial town. Already in the 1980s, Siena showed that it was capable of a lot in the sporting field: a top athletics track, meetings of international allure, and unprecedented at that time: Siena Atletica counted foreign professional athletes among its members: the Moroccan Said Aouita, world record holder 1500, 3000 and 5000 meters, Olympic Champion 5000 meters in 1984 and bronze in 800 meters in 1988. He was a unique athlete in that he dominated from 800 to 5,000 meters. He was joined by Roland Desruelles from Antwerp, European Champion 100 meters indoor.

In 2003 Siena Robur was promoted in the Serie A of the Italian football league, in a small stadium and in front of a small number of spectators, at the level of a very modest Belgian first division. Robur Siena lasted until 2010, was relegated and came back for two more seasons in 2011 under Antonio Conte, later manager of Juventus and Italia, from Chelsea in the summer of 2016 and now Inter and Lukaku.

The Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was a rather local bank as is not unusual in Italy, expanded in 1929 with the acquisition of the Banca Toscana, became a public credit institution in 1936, showed initiative in 1990 when it became the first Italian bank insurance began to offer. The Amato-Draghi law of 1992 allowed the privatization of public credit institutions (as happened in Belgium with Gemeentekrediet and A.S.L.K.) and laid the foundation for the next steps. In 1995, the Italian State decided to divide the bank into 2 institutions : a bank and a Fondazione or foundation, a non-profit organization that managed the shares and used the dividends for investments in art, scientific research, health and education. In 1999, the bank went public, so other shareholders came along who contributed capital that enabled the bank to expand in Italy and Europe, including in Belgium, and develop new activities. The city and province did ensure that they retained 51% of the shares and therefore complete control of the bank.

The Doom

On November 8, 2007, Montepaschi proudly announced that it had bought Banca Antonveneta from Padova for 9 billion euros from Banca Santander. Insiders thought the amount was quite high, especially because the bank had an injection of no less than 8 billion from Santander that had to be repaid, and which therefore increased the cost to 17 billion. Afterwards, it was also found out that the purchase had been made without a “due diligence” or careful examination of the books as is customary and actually necessary when taking over a company. Santander had banned this research and made it a condition of sale. And Montepaschi had accepted this in a fit of madness or should we say total ignorance of Giuseppe Mussari, the bank’s CEO. Mussari was born in Catanzaro, studied law at the University of Siena, became a lawyer there in 1993, and as a beautiful, “il bel Giuseppe” and intelligent man, had gained quick access to “the salons of Siena that counted in decision-making ”, in short, had made a career within the leftist Partito Democratico that controlled Siena since 1945. In 2001 he had become president of the Fondazione and in 2006 CEO of the bank, without any banking knowledge or experience. Quatongues claimed that the operation was ordered by Massimo D’Alema to the “red” brothers in Siena and especially to his confidant Mussari. D’Alema was a heavyweight in the Partito Democratico, formed from a merger of ex-communists and left-wing Christian Democrats. When he was prime minister in 1998-1999, he dreamed of a merger of Montepaschi and BNL, another top Italian bank, to have a major gateway to the national economy, and of course controlled by the PD.

Montepaschi had a big problem but the worst was yet to come. People relatively easily survived the first banking crisis of 2008, but with the second crisis of 2011, the house of cards began to collapse. A loss of 4.7 billion euros was recorded by Antonveneta, and by a large loss on the portfolio of Italian government bonds, which was then heavily speculated and which led to the political fall of Berlusconi. And of course this bank also worked with the new dangerous banking products that no one understood, certainly not Mussari, and which had been introduced by a “banking specialist”, who happened to be a confidant of D’Alema.

The responsibility of the left is very great in Siena, but all other parties have butter on their heads. The left-wing majority has always involved the opposition in all major projects and appointments of bank and city institutions. And so everyone was satisfied and no one protested

I will spare the reader what happened afterwards in and around the bank, the scandals and the bailouts, but I will give the consequences for the city.

The Consequences for the City

The city and province of Siena still hold 2.5% of the Fondazione’s shares, which have become virtually worthless, with the result that the annual waterfall of subsidies has come to an end.

Robur has gone bankrupt, restarted and plays in third division.

Mens Sana went bankrupt fraudulently in 2014, restarted , plays in third division and faces another bankruptcy .

The activities of the Santa Maria della Scala, the Italian Beaubourg, are at a low ebb and despite the 50 million euros from Montepaschi, the renovation is only half complete.

Mussari had to resign in 2012, stating: “This is not my job and I don’t want to mix it with my profession. I will be a lawyer again, the only profession I know”, a rare moment of self-knowledge from a provincial lawyer who went on to manage a top European bank. In November 2014, Mussari was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for the Alexandria affair, an attempt to cover up Antonveneta’s hole through a fraudulent scheme with Japanese bank Nomura.

A rector of the Ateneo dreamed of making the university “una piccola Oxford”, but in 2008 she turned out to have no less than 200 million euros in debt. The Tuscany region has bought Le Scotte for 110 million, which has relieved the pressure somewhat. Incidentally, the university is regarded by the contrade as their historical enemy, because it owns too much real estate as premises, and because the students live in too many apartments, which drives up the price of the real estate and many contradaioli can no longer afford to live in the contrada itself, and have to move to the periphery.

In 2015, SIENA BIOTECH went bankrupt even though it had received no less than 160 million euros from 2000 to 2014 from the Fondazione, which had invested in technological research in accordance with the statutes.

Politics was also rumbling in the city. Mayor Ceccuzzi had to resign in 2012 after a scandal involving Montepaschi, was succeeded by a commissioner sent by Rome to break the impasse, and succeeded in 2013 by a new mayor who is now also under heavy pressure due to several scandals. And then, in the municipal elections of 2018, for the first time since 1945, a right-wing municipal council and a right-wing mayor were elected: the final implosion of rich and yet “red” Siena. The new mayor promptly organized a Palio Straordinario in October 2018, the first since 2000, supposedly to commemorate the end of the First World War, but in fact to celebrate the change of political power. And he was lucky: it was summer on October 20, 2018. A few days later, an unprecedented autumn rain washed through the city.

I conclude:

Siena is still a rich and prosperous city.

Every year, Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s leading financial and economic newspaper, publishes a chart of all Italian provinces in terms of quality of life. And the winner… was several times Siena despite the expensive price of the real estate. In terms of income, medical and social services, security and attractiveness of life, Siena was unbeatable. In 2014 Siena was still a nice ninth place, down from a fifth in 2013, high at the top, but the first place seems far away due to the shock waves of the financial crises of 2008 and 2011 that have left deep wounds in the cash registers of the local bank, the city and the citizens, but also had a negative impact on employment, morale and self-confidence of the Sienese themselves. Nevertheless, through the bank and Fondazione, they have succeeded in building an infrastructure that is far superior to the rest of the country. The question is how this can be maintained in the future.

And Siena remains the most beautiful medieval Gothic city in the world .

But the myth of the Buon Governo or Good Government of the Nine Lords, which is said to have been reborn in the twentieth century, is definitively shattered. However, we can continue to admire the ideal in the probably utopian frescoes of Ambrogio Lorenzetti.