The Dante Stones of Siena

Dante Alighieri is best known for his Divine Comedy, and somewhat less well-known for his disparaging views about the city of Siena. In the broader context of his life, though, this is a fairly predictable view – as a Florentine and member of the Guelph party it’s not surprising that he would not care for the Ghibelline city and rival of the economic region.

Having recently returned from spending a little over two weeks in Italy, and a majority of that time within Siena, I can’t say I really agree with Dante because I fell in love with the city. As for why I was in Siena, I was attending a ten day intensive stained glass painting workshop at Vetrate Artistiche Toscane. I signed up for their newsletter over 12 years ago when looking into internships for school credit, I couldn’t get approval from my school but watched their emails over the years wondering what I had missed out on. When my role as Head of Marketing was eliminated earlier this year an email came through on my last day of official employment about their fall programs – I figured now was the time to find out and pulled the trigger on the class. That experience warrants it’s own blog post, which will take me a while to pull together, but needless to say it was an incredible opportunity and I learned more about stained glass window construction and painting in ten days then all of the classes I took in school.

My first large format stained glass window I ever completed, with painting, was an image of Dante and Virgil in Hell, with Nimrod in the background. I dismantled the window sometime after leaving school and all I can find left is my Virgil.

The piece was well received at my first review board with my glass teacher and one of my painting teachers, I was immediately drawn to the medium. I had a love of The Divine Comedy that had started in highschool, paired with my love of Paradise Lost. I was also inspired by the MFA’s sculpture of the pair by Baron Henri de Triqueti, which I would visit occasionally on my lunch breaks as students had free museum entry.

All this to say, when I got to my first day of the workshop and was presented with four different cartoons to choose from, it was clear which one I would pick: Dante.

 Later in the week we took a class outing to a nearby church to see a piece that had been produced at the studio. It was at this time that one of the teachers, Gianni, mentioned that there were within the city eight different stones with quotes from The Divine Comedy that were placed around the city of Siena and pointed out one near where we stood. So, when presented with a beautiful day off within the city before our final two days of class I decided to hunt them all down as a way to to get out and about and see more of the beautiful medieval architecture.

Little did I know what I challenge this would be, based largely on the fact that there is little English language information out there about the stones or their locations – not aided by being on WiFi networks in Italy, ensuring searches returned results in Italian. 

For most of my information, I used this article from the Gazzetta di Siena^*, which I had to use with Google Lens to translate various screenshots as I was out and about in the city – though I eventually took a break mid-day in my apartment to dig a bit deeper.

I was eventually able to track all eight stones down throughout the day, and it ended up being a really fun way to see the city and enjoy the early December weather.

I’ll cover the stones in order as they appear in The Divine Comedy, using Columbia University’s Digital Dante^** as my primary source text. The first stone is from from Canto 29 of Inferno:

STONE 1

“and, too, Caccia d’Asciano’s company,
with whom he squandered vineyards and tilled fields, while Abbagliato showed such subtlety.”

(Inferno XXIX, vv. 130-132)

The broader context of this stone is outlining an encounter between Dante and two Sienese alchemists, Griffolino and Capocchio, within the eighth circle of hell (Maleboge) where they are condemned due to their practice of alchemy and forging gold. The two men are plagued as lepers for eternity, and sit furiously scratching their scabbed skin.  

They engage with the author in a moment of shared dislike for the Sienese, with Capocchio calling out the members of The Spendthrift Brigade (in this excerpt, Caccia d’Asciano and Abbagliato – a nickname for Bartolomeo de’ Folcacchieri^†) as the most vain. The brigade was a group of young, wealthy Sienese men that aimed to squander as much money as they possibly could – but was part of a larger cultural brigate movement within medieval Italy – where wealthy young men were seen as contributing to violence and degradation within society^††.

This plaque is found on Via Garabaldi, affixed to the side of the building that was the headquarters of the Club in the thirteenth century.

STONE 2

“But could I see the miserable souls
of Guido, Alessandro, or their brother,
I’d not give up the sight for Fonte Branda.”

(Inferno XXX, vv. 76-78)

In this passage from Canto 30 of Inferno Dante has just witnessed Capocchio being attacked by Gianna Schicci, a thirteenth century knight^‡, and transitions to a conversation with a damned soul known as Master Adam. He does not have a confirmed identity, but is with the other falsifiers and imposters because he counterfeited coins under the hire of the Guidi family (Alessandro and Guido) who were Counts of Romena. He tells Dante he is cursed to suffer eternal thirst, but would forsake the waters of Fontebrande to see one of the brothers in Hell with him.

The Siena connection is that Guido Guidi, one of the brothers, was Podestá in Siena and the fountain mentioned is one of the most famous in the city, still to be seen today.

Unsurprisingly, this stone can be found by the still-standing Fontebrande.

STONE 3

“…may you remember me, who am La Pia; Siena made—Maremma unmade me”

(Purgatorio V, vv. 133-134)

Based upon the source article* I used from the Gazzetta di Siena, this seems to be the most well-known of the stones today and the one first pointed out to me.

By now, Dante has reached Purgatory and in Canto 5 continues his trek with Virgil as his guide. They are among the late-repentant, those who waited until the end to repent or did not receive last rites. Pia de Tolomei^‡‡, a noblewoman from Siena, is among this group – a victim of domestic violence that was killed by her husband. She pleads with Dante to remember her in his prayers so that she may ascend to heaven more quickly.

This stone is located on the wall of Palazzo Tolomei, her family home that was constructed in the thirteenth century.

STONE 4

“…of whom you spoke now?” “Provenzano Salvani, he answered, “here because-presumptuously-” he thought his grip could master all Siena.”

(Purgatorio XI, vv. 121-123)

Continuing through Purgatory into Canto 11, Dante and Virgil arrive at the first terrace of Purgatory – Pride. This is subdivided into pride of family, art, and power. The second type is embodied by the miniaturist and illuminator Oderisi da Gubbio^§ who introduces the traveling pair to Provenzano Salvani^‡‡ – a Sienese general from the Ghibelline faction. He is only spared a worser fate because he begged for the salvation of a friend ahead of his own death.

The Salvani family is actually referenced in five of the eight stones, with this being the first. According to my Gazzetta di Siena^* source article the family belonged to the Giraffa Contrada (basically neighborhoods but with a whole lot of local pride, mascots, flags, and their own horse racer for the famous Palio) and this is why the plaque is located on Via del Morro within that district. It’s also worth noting that the street leads directly to Piazza Provenzano Salvini, named for the historic figure.

As you can see, this one is just around the corner from stone three, making it easy to find the two together.

STONE 5

“Freely upon the Campo of Siena,
All shame being laid aside, he placed himself;”

(Purgatorio XI, vv. 134-135)

Continuing the tale of the Salvini family in Canto 11 of Purgatory, this stone references the episode at the end of Provenzano’s life where he begged within the Piazza del Campo to raise funds to pay for the ransom of a friend held captive by Charles I.

It was this previously mentioned act that spared Salvini of a worser fate and landed him in Purgatory, where he could work towards his salvation. The location of the stone is within the Piazza del Campo itself.

STONE 6

“I was not sapient, though I was called Sapìa;
and I rejoiced far more at others’ hurts
than at my own good fortune.”

Purgatorio XIII, vv. 109-111)

The next pair of stones that references the Salvini family is taken from Canto 13 of Purgatory, where Dante and Virgil have made it to the second terrace – reserved for the envious that have had their eyes sewn shut with stitched wire.

It is here that we meet Sapìa Salvini^§§, the aunt of Provenzano Salvini, who reports that she delighted in the fall of the Sienese troops in battle against the Florentines, a battle that killed Provenzano. This is envy taken to the extreme – joy at the misfortune of others. 

I could not find a reason why the plaque for this quote is located on Via de Vallerozzi, but it may have been a part of the lands owned by the Salvini family within the city – an area that includes Piazza Provenzano Salvini.

STONE 7

“one who was sorrowing for me because
of charity in him—Pier Pettinaio—
remembered me in his devout petitions.”

(Purgatorio XIII, vv. 127-129)

Continuing their conversation in Canto 13 Sapìa reveals that she has only made it this far in her journey to salvation due to the prayers of the near-saint Blessed Pier Pettinaio^¶. So while Dante’s Purgatory seems to be a kind of tough-love solution to cleaning a soul – or as Baroliano^¶¶ so brilliantly puts it “a kind of aggressive cognitive behavioral therapy, with the goal of dishabituating us from vice, the inclination toward sin” – it is also revealed that one can cheat the system a bit with the prayers of others.

This is why the stone is placed in Vicolo Beato Pier Pettinaio, an alley named for the popular Sienese holy man. His beatification did not occur until the 1800’s, but he was incredibly popular during his lifetime and Dante would have been aware of his death and the pilgrimages that would take place to his grave.

STONE 8

“…their loss in hope will be more than Diana cost”

(Purgatorio XIII, vv. 152-153)

The final stone is part of Sapìa’s parting words to the poet at the end of Canto 13. Here she has asked Dante to remember her in his prayers and asserts that she would like to see her name restored among her fellow Sienese, with a parting shot that they are vain and references to the recent purchase of the port of Talamore, predicting it will lose them hope as did their search for the River Diana – a costly local project in the city where extensive excavation was done to find a mythical underground river after Carmelites claimed to have unearthed one^# within the grounds of their convent in Siena. No river was ever found.

This is a deep cut of local happenings, and the stone is located on Via della Diana – named for the mythical river and opposite the site of the former monastery where it was first reported.

With all stones located, I also made an effort to precisely map them all, mostly because the sources I found had vague listings of street locations, which led to a lovely walk up and down the entire length of more than one street. It can be accessed publicly here^##.

The stones can be found mid-way up the walls and appear to have been recently cleaned. They were initially installed in 1921 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the death of the poet. If you ever find yourself in Siena with nothing to do and some beautiful weather, consider stopping by the stones. A kind of pilgrimage to one of the greatest authors of medieval literature and a great way to see several historical sites in the beautiful city of Siena.

As a final thought, most of the articles I have come across make a point to mention Dante as disliking Siena and it’s population – but I think it’s worth noting that the majority of the interactions and mentions of Siena take place in Purgatory – where you can work towards your salvation. It’s a very human place, full of human flaws – to me that makes it the most relatable and amplifies the charm.

AFTERWORD: It appears that similar plaques with quotes by Dante were installed all across Italy in 1921. So far I have found some in Bologna, Monteriggioni, Gavorrano, and- of course – Florence. I have not yet found a source that collects them all together, but the ones in Florence at least appear to be well mapped out.