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MENU ITALY
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Click
here to see a road map of the Arezzo
Province
SANSEPOLCRO
Sansepolcro
is situated in the very center of
Italy - an area of Italy
populated first by the Etruscans,
then by the Romans. The Etruscans
had their principle cities in
Perugia, Cortona and Arezzo (all
towns within a 40 mile radius of
Sansepolcro) and the used the
Valtiberina (Valley of the River
Tiber) as a source of timer - at
that period (c. 1000 BC) the
valley was covered in walnut
trees. However, toward 700 BC the
might of the Roman army had
destroyed all the Etruscan empire
and a group of Roman centurions
chose the site where Sansepolcro
is today to build a camp -
Birtugia. A number of other
Romans, including Pliny the
Younger, build their summer
villas in the
Valtiberina.
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Legend
has it that the town of
Sansepolcro was founded by two
pilgrims returning from the Holy
Land with a fragment of Christ's
tomb and they chose the area as a
site for a religious community
and a shrine for this holy
relict. The name Sansepolcro is
derived from Santo Sepolcro
meaning "holy
sepulchre".
There
is another legend that the
settlement Biturgia was destroyed
by a massive earthquake and so
many people died entombed in the
rubble that the town became known
as San Sepolcro in reference to
the victims. Sansepolcro, like
the whole of Italy, is a seismic
area and has been destroyed by an
earthquake at least once in
recent history. The earliest
standing palazzos date from 1300
(i.e. the stone palazzo in the
corner of the Piazza Torre di
Berta which houses the "Happy
Bar") due to a massive earthquake
at the beginning of the
fourteenth century which
destroyed Sansepolcro. Since then
there have been a number of
smaller earthquakes and now all
modern buildings must be built
anti-seismic. Even now there are
a lot of small tremors --in the
last fortnight alone there have
been two big tremors.
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Sansepolcro
is essentially a Renaissance town
and it was during this period
(14th and15th centuries) that the
town flourished. Sansepolcro had
26 noble families who all had
stone towers attached to their
elegant palazzos. However, when
the powerful Medici family took
over the control of Sansepolcro,
they made the nobles shorten
their towers to the height of the
adjoining palazzos as a sign of
subservience. These towers can
still be seen as you walk around
the town. The only tower left
standing at its original height
was in the center of Piazza Torre
di Berta.
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In
fact, the square was named after
its tower, the Berta tower.
However, the tower, having
survived the Medici, was blown up
by the retreating German army in
1944.
The
Medici were not the only family
to govern Sansepolcro. Due to the
position of the town on the very
edge of Tuscany, bordering with
Umbria and Le Marche, control of
Sansepolcro alternated between
the Medici, the powerful Dukes of
Montefeltro from Urbino, and,
very briefly, the Church.
However, Sansepolcro has never
had its own ruling family and the
democratic feeling that held it
together during the Renaissance
can still be felt
today.
The
town has an abundance of churches
and monasteries (about 18), most
dating back from the 13th and
14th centuries. For this reason,
the town museum and, indeed, many
of the churches are extremely
rich in art. The most famous son
of Sansepolcro is Piero della
Francesca and four of his works
can be found in the town
museum.
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Of
these the most famous is the
Resurrection. This was painted
for the council chamber of the
town hall (in the 1400s the
museum building was in fact the
town hall) and has never been
moved. Aldous Huxley described
the Resurrection as the "greatest
painting in the world," and even
if you do not agree it is hard
not to be impressed by this
fresco. There are two points of
particular interest in the
picture. The first is that the
figure of Christ stand with his
left foot on the grave edge and,
at the side of the fresco, all
the plants and trees in the
background are alive and
flourishing (representing the
rebirth of life), while the other
side, where Christ's foot is
still in the grave,
has
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a
desolate, dead background. The
other point of interest is that
one of sleeping soldiers is a
self-portrait of the
artist.
Other
renowned artists of the same
period came from Sansepolcro -
Santi di Tito, Matteo di
Giovanni, Raffaellino del Colle -
and their works can be found in
the museum and various churches.
A dramatic Deposition by Rosso
Fiorentino, a mannerist artist
(called "Rosso Fiorentino"
because he had a huge red beard
and a lot of red hair and cam
from Florence), can be seen in
the church of San Lorenzo at the
bottom of Via Luca Pacioli. This
is well worth seeing even though
the colors are rather odd -
Christ's body is purple. The
picture was in this church for
years, getting dirtier and
dirtier until it got sent away to
be cleaned so no one can remember
if these are the real colors or
if something went wrong with the
cleaning!
An
unusual piece of art that is
worth seeing is in the left-hand
apse of the Cathedral. This is a
carved wooden Crucifix called the
Volto Santo which dates from 900
AD. It is very unusual - one of
just 3 surviving examples in the
whole world - and has recently
been restored. It used to be so
discolored from candle smoke and
centuries of dirt that when it
was carried around the town in
processions it frightened
children! The cathedral itself
dates from about 1350 and, like
the majority of Italian churches,
has been altered over the years.
However, in the 1930s, nearly all
the alterations were torn out so
that the cathedral has reverted
to roughly how it was in the
1300s. The only noticeable
addition that remains, dating
from the 1600s, is the chapel in
the right-hand apse that is a
pretty example of baroque
style.
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Sansepolcro's
other famous son was the
mathematician Luca Pacioli. For
part of his life he lived in the
monastery of San Francesco and
two years ago a statue of Pacioli
was erected in honor of the five
hundredth anniversary of the
publication of the Summa. It was
in this book that he set out the
theory of double-entry
bookkeeping.
After
the glories of the Renaissance,
Sansepolcro went into a kind of
decline. Up to the second half of
the 19th century the main source
of income for this area was from
agriculture - mostly tobacco.
Towards the end of the last
century, the Buitoni family
started the now famous pasta
company which was extremely
successful.
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Until
then, all Italian families made
their own pasta and Buitoni
offered the first ready-made
pasta. The company was
family-owned until the mid-1980's
and it is now part of Nestle.
However, it is still the largest
employer in
Sansepolcro.
Most
towns in Italy have some kind of
festival during the year and
Sansepolcro is no exception. On
the second Sunday of September,
Sansepolcro holds the Palio della
Balestra - and ancient contest
against the nearby town of
Gubbio, where crossbowmen
(balestrieri) from the two towns
aim at a target set up in the
Piazza Torre di Berta. The bold
nearest the center wins. The
contest dates from the
Renaissance and those that take
part are dressed in authentic
costume, made by the same
designer from Rome that makes the
costumes for Zeffirelli's
films.
As
an adjunct to the crossbowmen,
there are the flag-wavers
(sbandieratori). This is an art
developed by standard bearers
going into battle, armed with
nothing but a flag. Certain
movements were developed to
enable the flag to be used as a
weapon and now in the 20th
century form part of a unique
display. The flag-wavers are also
dressed in costume and the flags
are made from silk, hand-painted
with the coats of arms of
Sansepolcro's noble families.
Sansepolcro's flag-wavers are
world famous and each year travel
to festivals throughout the world
to give displays.
SANSEPOLCRO:
BIRTHPLACE OF PIERO DELLA
FRANCESCA
Sansepolcro
is in the high valley of the
Tiber, at the foot of the
Appennines, the last edge of
Tuscan land between Emilia
Romagna, Marche and Umbria. Some
people take its origins back to a
Roman camp. According to legend,
it was founded by two pilgrims,
Egidio and Arcano, who stopped
here on their return from the
Holy Land.
It
is thus the name of Sansepolcro
is explained.
Originally
it was a fiefdom of the monastic
order of the Camaldolesi and was,
unusually, for those time, a
totally independent city founded.
However, it subsequently became
the domain of the Malatestas, the
Medecis and finally the
Lorenas.
Pope
Leo X then gave it the title of
City and made it a bishopric in
1570. Sansepolcro is above all
the City of Piero della
Francesca. In the museum are
preserved some of his most
important works: "The
Resurrection"; the polyptych of
the "Madonna della Misericorida";
the "San Guiliano" and the "San
Lodovico".
At
Monterchi maybe see the beautiful
"Madonna del Parto". In the
museum there are also on show
many works of art by important
artists, among them the Albertis,
the Della Robbias, Matteo di
Giovanni, Perugina, Pontormo and
Luca Signorelli.
Of
particular interest in the room
displaying carved stone-work, is
an impressive original Romanesque
frieze.
In
Sansepolcro were born not only
important artists but also
influential men of intellect such
as Dionigio Roberti, teacher of
Petrarch, and men of science such
as Luca Pacioli, renowned
mathematician and Nicolo
Aggiunti, disciple of
Galileo.
Sansepolcro
is also the city of the Palio of
the Crossbow and the ancient
games of flag-waving.
The
historic center is a fascinating
example of stone-built towers,
the splendid Medici Fortress of
Giuliano of San Gallo, the many
palazzos of noble families, the
surrounding city walls all bear
witness to those times. Worthy of
notice are the Gothic church of
San Francesco and the Romanesque
cathedral, both with their
characteristic bell-towers. Other
important churches are the "Servi
di Maria", the "Madonna delle
Grazie" and the "San Rocco" all
adorned with beautiful works of
art. The church of "San Lorenzo"
is the custodian of a
"Deposition" by Rosso
Fiorentino.
The
Tiber Valley and the Appennines
forming as they do a wide and
picturesque amphitheater from La
Verna to the source of the Tiber
itself to Montecasale, refuge of
St. Francis, provide unspoiled
scenery of rare natural beauty.
Of interest nearby are Monterchi,
Anghiari, Caprese Michelangelo,
Pieve Santo Stefano, Badia
Tedalda and Sestino.
In
Sansepolcro, the tradition of
craftsmanship lives on:
especially in the making of
exquisite lace, fine jewelry and
the Italian crossbow.l
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