Siena's cathedral

On our last full day in Siena, we visited Siena's massive cathedral, located just around the corner from our B&B. The morning presented itself similarly to the previous days: cold and cloudy. However, as the day progressed, the weather pleasantly cleared up, and I was finally able to enjoy the Siena sights in the sun. The cathedral itself was beautiful and ornate. It's exterior remained mostly black and white striped, except for the pale blue dome. Once inside, the floors were covered in stone mosaics depicting various religious narratives, and the black and white palette was echoed on the walls and pillars. The murals that covered a large part of the walls, as well as the stained glass windows, added so much vibrant color and contrasted with the monochromatic facade of the building. In many ways, I wish I would've paid more attention to the unit on Gothic cathedrals from the art history class I took last semester so that I could've had a better interpretation of the architecture. As a whole, the whole interior of the cathedral presented so many different art styles and designs that I found it to be pretty overwhelming. We were also able to climb a circular, narrow flight of stairs that led up to the top of the building, which allowed us to gain a different perspective of both the inside and outside of the cathedral and of Siena below. Overall I found it to be a great experience, and it added greater meaning to the drawing I had completed of it from a distance. 

from vineyards to wheat fields

After spending the past couple days drawing overcast vineyards and olive trees, we then moved onto a different, but equally beautiful landscape: rolling wheat fields. Although still cloudy and chilly, the change of scenery gave me a new sense of excitement, and I thoroughly enjoyed drawing from a different perspective. After spending the morning overlooking rolling green hills, we returned to the bus to drive to a couple other viewpoints, eventually arriving at the quaint town of Chiusure. The town offered a whole other set of breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. After stopping to have a quick bite to eat (I had a hearty bowl of penne pasta with ragu sauce, and it truly tasted like it came from a traditional Italian kitchen), we hopped back on the bus and drove down the hills to our next location. We visited an old monastery, and were able to experience frescoes painted way back during Italian antiquity. Although old and damaged, the colors of the frescoes remained vibrant, and one can only imagine how vivid they appeared during their prime.

This is the composition I chose to focus on the morning we visited the wheat fields. The wispy clouds only added to the tranquil atmosphere, although they dissipated as the hours progressed. 

Standing in some wheat fields, my shoes thoroughly muddied by the fertile Tuscan earth.

 

The above images were all taken from different areas in Chiusure. The town was very small, but offered fantastic views of Tuscany and the monastery below. I absolutely loved the endless shades of green and blue that changed with the daylight. The town itself is primarily occupied with retired folks, which became hard to believe since it was located on the side of a hill, and was filled with very steep-sloping streets and multiple levels connected by stairs.

Pots of heavenly-smelling, fresh basil plants growing near the entrance of the monastery.

The monks at the monastery also produced their own wine, grappa (an Italian, vodka-like liquor made from the skins of grapes), and olive oil. We walked into their cellar and were able to see huge barrels where the wine used to be stored, many of them had to be at least 10 feet tall.

The three photos above show details of the frescoes in the monastery. Apparently, they depicted a biblical story, and although I was not familiar with the narrative, I could definitely appreciate the artistic and compositional elements that these paintings demonstrated.

rainy days

The rain we experienced throughout the day trip to San Gimignano continued throughout the week. Nevertheless, our professor decided that we would stick to the plan of visiting various locations outside of Siena. We visited some more quaint medieval towns, including Monteriggioni and San Donato. At the latter, we were lucky enough to go to a wine tasting and lunch. At Monteriggioni, I had just positioned myself in a beautiful location overlooking some vineyards, preparing to draw, when it really started to pour. I rushed to meet back up with the rest of the group, and we ducked into a cafe in the town's main plaza. We ordered some drinks there, and I had the opportunity to draw some portraits (finally!), which I prefer to drawing architecture and landscapes. Even though the rain made it impossible to draw the surrounding landscape, I still found it a memorable and enjoyable experience to sit and draw inside the cozy cafe.

This image, and others below, capture different sights from in and around Monteriggioni, which I managed to take before it started raining.

Here's one of the drawings I made from our time in the cafe; a graphite portrait of one of the other students in my group, with her coffee!

This image, as well as all the others below, are from San Donato, where we had our wine tasting/lunch. We were served various bruschettas with different cheeses, olive oil, and meats; all delicious (pictured below). The town itself was so quaint even in the gloomy weather.

more Siena

Here's another handful of various images taken around Siena.