Discover Renaissance masterpieces and trace the decorative frescoes and gold-ground paintings of the Sienese School
Enjoy the magnificent architecture and collections of Siena’s cathedral, including the Piccolomini Library and Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
Explore winding medieval streets and ancient city walls within the picturesque scenery of Tuscany
“Sarah is so knowledgeable whilst also being humorous and entertaining. Her enthusiasm is infectious”
–ACE customer on a previous Italian tour led by Sarah Burles
Within the charming Tuscan countryside lie the small yet prestigious centres of Siena and San Gimignano, perfect locations in which to explore Italy’s artistic heritage. From abbeys to churches and galleries, we will trace the region’s rich cultural legacy and the exquisite work of the Sienese school of artists that flourished here between the 13th and 15th centuries.
The Duomo di Siena displays stunning Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture and encompasses a complex of important spaces including the Cathedral Baptistry and Crypt. In the Piccolomini Library, Pinturicchio’s monumental frescoes are a feast for the eyes, and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo displays the spectacular Maestà altarpiece by Duccio, along with an array of sacred liturgical objects from as early as the 15th century.
We will journey to one of Italy's oldest functioning abbeys, Abbazia di Sant’Antimo, nestled in the idyllic countryside. Dating back to the 9th century, legend claims it was founded by Charlemagne, and we will discover its ancient origins through beautiful Romanesque architecture and the adjacent Garden of St Hildegard, which cultivates plants for medicinal remedies. Continuing to Montalcino, we will experience magnificent paintings by the likes of Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti of the Sienese School, accompanied by a broader collection of art treasures that span the Medieval era to the 20th century.
The historically significant town of San Gimignano – its imposing skyline of towers rising above the landscape – was once a key stop and trading point on the Via Francigena pilgrimage route. Its enduring cultural status can be traced in the Palazzo Communale’s Civic Museum and Town Hall, with a room named after Dante, who visited San Gimignano in 1299, and where the splendid iteration of Maestà by Lippo Memmi lies – painted after Duccio’s piece of the same name that we will encounter earlier in the tour. Exploring the town’s churches, we will appreciate the power of historical frescoes within their original and intended contexts, such as the immense scenes of the Old and New Testaments at the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, and the meticulously composed scenes by Benozzo Gozzoli at the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino.
We will stay in Siena for the first three nights at Hotel Minerva followed by Hotel La Cisterna in San Gimignano. Both hotels are comfortable and historic accommodations, conveniently located close to town centres.
“I am absolutely delighted to be leading this new ACE tour to Siena and San Gimignano. If your appetite has been whetted by the recent exhibition at the National Gallery in London, then this is the tour for you! Starting in Siena, we will be exploring the city’s fascinating medieval history as well as experiencing artistic treasures in the place they were made. We will discover a city dedicated to the Virgin Mary and full of civic pride, reflected in masterpieces such as Duccio’s Maestà and Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Allegories of Good and Bad Government. Our tour will then take us to San Gimignano, another important stop on the Via Francigena and often described as the 'Manhattan of the Middle Ages’. Here wealthy families built numerous tower houses as symbols of their power and status, several of which survive to this day, while the town’s churches hold a treasure trove of vibrant frescoes by both Sienese and Florentine masters. The tour promises to be a feast for both the eyes and the mind as we go back to a time when politics, power, art and theology shaped urban life.”
– Tour Director Sarah Burles
Sarah Burles
Sarah Burles, MA, studied History of Art at Cambridge and gained a Masters at University College London before going on to a career in museum and gallery education.
This tour will be led by Sarah Burles, MA, who studied History of Art at Cambridge and gained a Masters at University College London before going on to a career in museum and gallery education. This included 12 years at the Fitzwilliam Museum as well as work in other Cambridge museums.
6
£2795
ATSS-26
Tour fully booked - please contact the office on 01223 841055 to be added to the waiting list.
Included: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, five breakfasts, three dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.
Not Included: travel insurance, double room for single use supplement £395.
