MONTALCINO

The Combined Municipal and Parish Museums
This museum has assembled the works of art which were previously kept separately in the Municipal Museum and the Parish Museum. The first was set up towards the end of the nineteen-fifties in the rooms of the former hospital of Santa Maria della Croce (at present the townhall in Piazza Cavour) with works from institutions and churches of Montalcino. The other one originated in 1925 on the occasion of a display of sacred paintings and statues from churches and convents of the parish. At the beginning of the eighties an agreement between the municipal administration and the church council established the Combined Museums, which are now housed in the rooms of the former Convent of Sant'Agostino.

The principal works exhibited are: a crucifix of the Sienese School of the end of the 12th century, anonymous paintings of the Sienese School of the 12th and 14th century, works by Luca di Tommè, Bartolo di Fredi (among them two masterpieces: the "Descent from the Cross" and the "Crowning of the Virgin"), Andrea di Bartolo, Sano di Pietro, Benvenuto di Giovanni, Girolamo di Benvenuto, Guidoccio Cozzarelli, Sodoma and Bartolomeo Neroni, known as "il Riccio"; there are some remarkable terracottas of the della Robbia series and a collection of the most complete archaic maiolicas of the 12th and 14th centuries, made in Montalcino. Of particular interest is the "ATLANTIC BIBLE", illustrated with miniatures by Sienese artists of the 12th century. Finally there are a number of coloured wooden statues of the 14th and 15th centuries. An archeological section harbours finds from the Montalcino area of the neolithic, bronze and iron ages, as well as Etruscan funerary urns and vases, and other ornamental objects from Etruscan and Roman tombs.

Feast of the Thrush
On our hill-side vineyards and olive-groves vie with Mediterranean maquis which has been in the past, and still is rich with game. From August until well into October when the migration of birds and particularly thrushes is at its height, the hunters have always found their prey. In mediaeval times the nobility and the gentry would invite friends and neighbours to the hunts, which would end up by the spits where the game was roasted over charcoal, in the midst of dancing, singing and jousts; this is the tradition that is revived to-day in our events, the TOURNAMENT FOR THE OPENING OF THE HUNTING SEASON AND the FEAST OF THE THRUSH. The TOURNAMENT which takes place on the second Sunday in August marks the beginning of what used to be the great hunting expeditions, while the FEAST OF THE THRUSH, on the last Sunday of October is the most important event of the hunting season. On the morning of the TOURNAMENT day, the streets and squares of the town are filled with the sounds of the trumpeters and drummers announcing the beginning of the hunting season. In the afternoon a pageant of ladies and knights proceeds towards the foot of the fortress, where archers of the four quarters BORGHETTO, PIANELLO, RUGA and TRAVAGLIO, compete for the victory in an archery tournament. The archers, two for every quarter drawn by lot among three candidates, are given four turns each, at an increasing distance from their targets, and they loose five arrows each time. As the distance from their targets increases, so does the score, and the quarter which has scored most points is of course the winner.

But it is the FEAST OF THE THRUSH that combines historic traditions, folklore, sports and gastronomy; from morning onwards the townsmen and women dance the TRESCONE in all the streets while a pageant of more than a hundred and twenty people dressed in 14th century costumes symbolizing the return to the hunt, rolling flags, and with trumpets and drums, proceeds towards the municipal loggia to offer the game to the Lady of the Fortress who waits with her ladies and her court. The procession ends at the 13th century Fortress and the gastronomic fair begins. At the stands, set up in the strong-hold courtyard, typical local dishes are cooked: polenta, pinci, bruschetta, pappardelle with hare sauce, donzelline, roast meat on coals with a special place for the thrushes, all of it washed down with wine.

The feast becomes a combination of colours, delicious smells, wine and song, in an unforgettable atmosphere. In the afternoon the pageant proceeds to the foot of the fortress where the four quarters challenge one another with much gusto in the archery tournament. The feast ends at night-time with the procession of torches along the bastions of the fortress.