Museum of the Contrada della Selva

The Museum of the Contrada della Selva (Contrada of the Forest) in Siena has its headquarters in the crypt of the Church of St Sebastian in Vallepiatta, built under the patronage of the weavers’ guild at the end of the 15th century and given to the contrada in 1810.

The Museum illustrates the history of the contrada and exhibits the banners won in the Palio, among which stand out those painted by Mino Maccari (August 1970) and Ugo Altardi (August 1974).

Part of the itinerary takes place in the contrada’s church, with frescoes by Sienese artists from the 16th and 17th centuries, conserving paintings, relief sculptures and the sacristy’s numerous sacred decorations.

Among the artworks conserved in the Church of St Sebastian we find the so-called “Madonna of the Forest”, a high-relief sculpture in terracotta, plaster and painted wood, portraying the Virgin and Child with angels, attributed to Francesco di Giorio, as well as two panel paintings with the Madonna and Child with saints, one by Benvenuto di Giovanni and the other accredited to a follower of Guidoccio Cozzarelli, a crucifixion by Rutilio Manetti and frescoes with the Sibyls, Saints and Angels by Raffaello Vanni.