Day 21

Today we visited the palace museum in Siena. I won't have pictures for this because we were told to not take pictures. This museum had some historical items that are important to their town. There were various artifacts, frescas, and paintings. Some of the paintings seem to be reoccurring in various museums. We saw two pieces in particular that were so similar to ones we we've seen in other places. For example, there was a golden cross that sticks out from the wall, and Jesus on the cross (3D version). I observed the Madonna and Jesus and noticed how she tilts her head toward him in the paintings I've seen. I have observed the paintings including children and ones without them, and the paintings with children are much more lighter and pastel, kind of soft. Other paintings aren't as innocent, I guess would be the word. That ties into their catholic culture as well because you can find these characteristics in the pairings within churches here. 

In Siena I have observed this She-wolf character that was said to have taken two human children and nursed them.i think this shows an importance of children for the town, because I've seen other statues of a single woman nurturing many babies. 

With all that being said, I think the importance of children may link to the many contradas in Siena. I learned that once someone is born into a contrada, they are taken care of forever. 

This leads to the conclusion of the trip in Selva's area. This area is represented by a rhino. We learned about the Palio that takes place and how every contrade participates and it is very important. This event is so special to these individually tight-knit districts, so they strive to win this extravagant horse race. Every part, whether the drummer, flag throwers, and horse racers, is family oriented. It is very generational, so I would concur that family life in this area is very close and extremely important.