Siena, unveiled the new layout of the Santa Maria della Scala Treasury

Since last April 17, the public can visit, in Siena, the new display of the Treasure of Santa Maria della Scala, inside the Old Sacristy: the operation has made it possible to recontextualize the reliquaries, relics and the famous Arliquiera (a cabinet for relics) by Lorenzo di Pietro known as il Vecchietta (Siena, 1410 - 1480) in the environment that housed them for the longest time. TheArliquiera, in particular, was until now housed in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, and thus returns to the place for which it was made. The new display intends precisely to recover the historical, political and religious relationship that links Vecchietta’s intervention to the transfer of the objects to the Old Sacristy, around the middle of the 15th century: this is also accompanied by the enhancement of the frescoes, which have been exalted by a new lighting system.

The relics that were to be contained in Vecchietta’s cabinet were purchased in 1359 in Venice. Specifically, the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala purchased them from a merchant, Pietro di Giunta Torregiani, who had come into possession of them in Constantinople a couple of years earlier. The deed regulating the transaction between the hospital and the merchant was stipulated in the form of a donation so that the accusation of simony would not be incurred. The relics included objects pertaining to the Passion, the cross of Christ, the Virgin and various saints. The importance of these relics was such that in Siena, from 1360, it was decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve on the day of the Most Holy Annunciation (March 25, the date of arrival of the relics). Originally kept in the Chapel of the Mantle, they were transferred to the Old Sacristy in the mid-15th century: it was on that occasion that Lorenzo Vecchietta was asked to execute theArliquiera, decorated on the inside with Stories from the Passion of Christ and on the outside with Sienese Saints and Blesseds.

“The transfer of Vecchietta’s Arliquiera from the Pinacoteca Nazionale to Santa Maria della Scala,” stresses Stefano Casciu, director of the Polo Museale della Toscana, in particular, “is part of a collaborative program, set up with theEnhancement Agreement on the Siena Museum System signed in June 2017 between MiBACT and the Municipality of Siena, aimed at strengthening and promoting relations between our institutions, to increasingly engage and inform the public and visitors to Siena about the richness and close interconnection of the city’s museums.”

He is echoed by the mayor of Siena, Bruno Valentini: “The return of the Treasure to the Old Sacristy represents a step of extreme relevance for Siena’s cultural policies since it translates into reality the wish of the many, one among them Omar Calabrese, who in the past decades raised the philological advisability of placing the Vecchietta masterpiece in its natural environment. This is one of the fruits of the agreement we signed last year with MIBACT, as well as further confirmation of Santa Maria della Scala’s ability to enhance its historical-artistic heritage and finally establish a strong connection with the National Picture Gallery.”

The project was born to the collaboration between the City of Siena, the Polo Museale della Toscana and Opera-Civita.

Pictured: Lorenzo di Pietro known as Vecchietta, Interior of theArliquiera with the Stories of the Passion/em> (1445-1446)

Siena, unveiled the new layout of the Santa Maria della Scala Treasury

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