So, yesterday I listened to one of the most amazing lectures I have ever heard with these ears of mine. So, Siena has these contradas, they’re like neighborhoods, and there are 17 of them. And it’s kind of cute because they each have a mascot and a flag and such…
But it’s not cute at all. This is serious business we’re talking about.
Luca, who is our bestest friend at the Dante Alighieri school we attend gave us a presentation that gave us a better idea about the contrade (because in Italian a -> e to make something plural). So, he is in the Torre (Tower, elephant) contrada and they are enemies with the goose contrada. And he knows a goose who married a torre and he said during the war days (the Palio [the horse race]) they live in different places! Because it’s too hard otherwise!
Some contradas don’t have enemies, but Luca said that it’s not as fun that way because then there is slightly less motivation to win. In the case of different parents, they choose what the children will be before they are born. And each contrada has a museum that you can only attend with special permission. We got to see the panther contrada museum because it was for an educational purpose.
So the Palio is this intense horse race, only ten out of the seventeen contrade get to run. The seven that didn’t run last year automatically get to run and then the last three are drawn. It is symbolic of a war, because they used to fight all the time and now they run the race. But they still fight each other during the race time, but it’s on the side.
Then the horses are picked out and they draw for the horses. But it turns out that they purposely pick out some horses that aren’t so great, so it’s not really a sport, but more like luck of the draw type of thing. And no one cares about the jockeys because they’re usually not from Siena and doing it for the money (they make a TON if they win, by the way) and Luca kept referring to them as prostitutes. And then the race is won by someoneand everyone goes crazy.
And what they win is this cloth with the Virgin Mary on it, which is called a Palio. Because it is run in honor of Mary.
And the contrada is your culture, because you take care of each other and support each other and have parties all the time. And each contrada has a patron saint and they have a huge parade on their saint day.
And it is a really, really big deal. I don’t think my explanation can do it justice.
So today we fieldtripped it to Firenze (Florence) and saw David….THEE DAVID. Yeah, he’s huge, by the way. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was thinking more of a life-size type thing. But au contraire, he is a giant…Rather ironic. So it is an interesting sculpture, in that he is standing all muscled and victorious. Maybe because the last version of David and Goliath I saw was the Wishbone version, but I usually think of David as a young boy (or puppy). But it is a great sculpture. Bernini’s is better (I would say “in my opinion” but I’m sure you’ve discovered that everything here in my opinion). But Michelangelo did pretty darn good. Of course, it is also at a disadvantage because you can’t inspect it closely like the Bernini ones because it is surrounded by a glass gate and on a pedestal. Also as Kendis pointed out, you stare at it for a long time and then you go, “hm, it’s a naked man.”
But it’s not cute at all. This is serious business we’re talking about.
Luca, who is our bestest friend at the Dante Alighieri school we attend gave us a presentation that gave us a better idea about the contrade (because in Italian a -> e to make something plural). So, he is in the Torre (Tower, elephant) contrada and they are enemies with the goose contrada. And he knows a goose who married a torre and he said during the war days (the Palio [the horse race]) they live in different places! Because it’s too hard otherwise!
Some contradas don’t have enemies, but Luca said that it’s not as fun that way because then there is slightly less motivation to win. In the case of different parents, they choose what the children will be before they are born. And each contrada has a museum that you can only attend with special permission. We got to see the panther contrada museum because it was for an educational purpose.
So the Palio is this intense horse race, only ten out of the seventeen contrade get to run. The seven that didn’t run last year automatically get to run and then the last three are drawn. It is symbolic of a war, because they used to fight all the time and now they run the race. But they still fight each other during the race time, but it’s on the side.
Then the horses are picked out and they draw for the horses. But it turns out that they purposely pick out some horses that aren’t so great, so it’s not really a sport, but more like luck of the draw type of thing. And no one cares about the jockeys because they’re usually not from Siena and doing it for the money (they make a TON if they win, by the way) and Luca kept referring to them as prostitutes. And then the race is won by someoneand everyone goes crazy.
And what they win is this cloth with the Virgin Mary on it, which is called a Palio. Because it is run in honor of Mary.
And the contrada is your culture, because you take care of each other and support each other and have parties all the time. And each contrada has a patron saint and they have a huge parade on their saint day.
And it is a really, really big deal. I don’t think my explanation can do it justice.
So today we fieldtripped it to Firenze (Florence) and saw David….THEE DAVID. Yeah, he’s huge, by the way. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was thinking more of a life-size type thing. But au contraire, he is a giant…Rather ironic. So it is an interesting sculpture, in that he is standing all muscled and victorious. Maybe because the last version of David and Goliath I saw was the Wishbone version, but I usually think of David as a young boy (or puppy). But it is a great sculpture. Bernini’s is better (I would say “in my opinion” but I’m sure you’ve discovered that everything here in my opinion). But Michelangelo did pretty darn good. Of course, it is also at a disadvantage because you can’t inspect it closely like the Bernini ones because it is surrounded by a glass gate and on a pedestal. Also as Kendis pointed out, you stare at it for a long time and then you go, “hm, it’s a naked man.”
The cathedrals here are so jaw-droppingly amazing. You round a corner filled with bustling tourists and fake purse sellers and all the sudden an amazingly intricate façade is just chilling there. It always makes me stop for a second. A-MAZING. I don’t know how they make them, because the outside is like a million paintings and sculptures all put together. I don’t think my eyes can even handle all the amazing things we’ve seen.
I am not an art history expert, by any means, and sometimes I feel ridiculous when I forget how to spell Michelangelo or I can’t tell when a piece is from the Renaissance (and also can’t spell renaissance), but I can appreciate what a piece is doing.
For example, when I look at a Carvaggio I can say, “dang, look at the lighting and shadows he created and how vibrant the colors are” or “oh, that picture is symmetrical and the colors are drawing your eye to Jesus and Mary, because they’re important.”
Also, I have to say Intro to Film has come handy many a time. “Oh, look at that vectoring…and saturation…and framing…and the choice of colors for each character...and those facial expressions are saying a lot about the emotions that are meant to be portrayed…did I mention the saturation and hue??”
Now I just need to find a painting with a Pepsi can in the corner and I can wow them with my knowledge of product placement.
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