Tales of a Travel Photographer

Piazza Il Campo, Sienna

(Yesterday, we were in Volterra)

May 28th, 2009

Siena, oh Siena.

The thunderstorm last night after an awesome sunset had freshened the landscape around us. (The crowd around the dinner table last night accused us Seattleites of getting the rumbling clouds along with us from Seattle). The 159 continued to struggle with torque at low rpm navigating the steep elbow turns. But our eyes hungrily took the landscape in as we hurled east passing the inviting silhouettes of  San Gimignano (that we would visit later) and Monteriggioni (that we would not).

Siena, Gorgeous, Siena!

Had we listened to Rick Steve, Siena would have been our base camp in Tuscany. But then we guessed a lot many people would follow him and decided to use reverse-herd-mentality and chose Volterra. And Lucca. I think our choices were more rustic and hence much more sophisticated.

Sienna has enjoyed an extremely colorful history and has managed maintain the color. In the 1200s, with a population of sixty thousand, it was larger than Paris.  Had it not been for the bubonic plague in 1348, it would have been as metropolitan as Rome or Florence. As crowded. Less fascinating.

Our first stop was Piazza Il Campo. This is the heart of Siena and the venue for the famous horse race Palio. To get a glimpse the Palio, see the scene in the latest Bond caper Quantum of Solace just after the car chase (horribly rescored in the link - sorry).

The semicircular medieval “square” is dominated by the city hall and the Torre del Mangia along the diameter line and shops, trattorias and houses dotting the circumference. The fishbone tiling, the city hall, the buildings all built using the soil on which they stand create a red haze. This is where Crayola, the crayon company, got inspiration for the color they surprisingly called called Burnt Siena.

The Piazza is divided into 17 segment, the demarcation apparent from the top of the tower which we were to climb later in the day (waiting for the sun to get into the right position). Each segment represents a contrade, a neighborhood or a tribe. Palio has 10 horses racing around the periphery – specially and temporarily covered with dirt - to the din of thousands of people who take every available spot in the square. I can imagine what a sight it must be.

After a quick bite, we started to climb the hill towards the Duomo.

 

(Read on: We are headed to the Duomo)

 

Technorati Tags: Piazza ll Campo,Siena,Seattle,San Gimignano,Monteriggioni,Rick Steve,Tuscany,Volterra,Lucca,Paris,Rome,Florence,Palio,Quantum,of Solace,Torre del Mangia,Crayola

Outside the Duomo, Siena

(Earlier in the day, we were at the Piazza Il Campo)

 

May 28th, 2009

After St. Peter’s in Vatican, I there wasn't much I was expecting from this – or for that matter any other - Church. Yet, the church held my attention. The compact 1215 Duomo has a gorgeous facade. The facade completed over 150 years shows a progression of styles from the then passé Romanesque to semi Gothic to Gothic, bottom to top.

The straight line of the campanile, the bell tower, rising behind the church completes the picture. The bell tower looks taller than it is because of an optical illusion created by the  diminishing width of the black stripes as it gets closer to the top.

We felt compelled to sit on a parapet and marvel.

As I shot stock frames, I saw the Duomo reflected beautifully in Gayu’s shades.

I used my Maui Jim make this picture.

And turned around to see 5-6 people behind me clicking goggles held in their hand :)

I was reminded of a line I read in a photo magazine. Go to a national park and setup a tripod. You will soon have a crowd standing behind you, peering around you, trying to shoot what you are shooting. Whether – and especially - they understand what is being shot or not.

 

(Read on: Inside the Dumo, we will be at Piccolomino’s altar)

 

Technorati Tags: Duomo,Siena,Piazza ll Campo,St. Peter,Vatican,Church,Romanesque,Gothic,Jim Maui,Piccolomino

Piccolomini’s altar, Duomo Interior, Siena

(Earlier in the day, we were at the Piazza Il Campo and Outside the Duomo)

May 28th, 2009

 

 

We moved indoors, decorated in black and white stripes the official colors of Siena. With the busts of 172 popes watching us, we stopped at Piccolomini’s altar. Piccolomini was the patron-in-chief of art in Siena. He went on to become Pope Pius II and found a more prestigious burial place in Vatican.

Michelangelo was commissioned to complete the altar. His heart was never into it as he was working on David in Florence simultaneously. Michelangelo completed only one of the fifteen pieces. Yet, the perfectionist he was, the result is startling.  Steven Spielberg started shooting Schindler’s List while Jurassic Park  was still in post production. I have always wondered how one could undertake such mammoth opus’s back to back. Would the imagination machinery not need a break?

Ghiberti made it a Renaissance fashion for sculptors to double up as models, a little naughty hat-tip to self. This statue is widely believed to be Michelangelo’s self portrait especially the broken nose. St. Paul’s dangling right hand could also be an early prototype that would materialize on David’s arm. Look for it.

 

 

(Read on: We are headed to Piccolomini’s library)

 

Technorati Tags: Piccolomini,Duomo,Siena,Piazza ll Campo,Pope Pius,Vatican,Michelangelo,David,Florence,Steven Spielberg,Schindler List,Jurassic Park,Ghiberti,Renaissance