From the Etruscans to Sodoma: A Day in the Sienese Countryside

The Etruscans left few written records, and nobody knows what the complex at Poggio Civitate, a hill near the town of Murlo (southwest of Siena), was. However, the footprint our man left in the roof tile is dramatic proof of the suddenness with which destruction came: Life size terracotta statues of gods and sphinxes, roof tiles, frieze plaques with horse race and banquet scenes, pottery, jewelry, all was smashed and buried. 

And so it remained until Mr. Phillips, who hoped to find an Etruscan town, began excavating Poggio Civitate in 1966. The first day a wall was discovered, but instead of being part of a house, it proved to be part of a huge, fabulously... 

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...decorated building dating to the early 5th century BC. Over the years an earlier, Archaic complex (which appears to have simply burned down) emerged, as did kilns, a foundry, and tombs. Though many archaeologists have interpreted the site, by analogy with modern Tuscan estates, as the palace of a prince, Mr. Phillips thought otherwise. In ancient times princes had armies of both slaves and soldiers, and he could see no traces of either at Poggio Civitate.

He finally decided the hill was the meeting place of a North Etruscan league of some sort. This would explain the site's wealth, because each member city would have contributed to its construction, and the absence of a garrison, because there would have been no need to defend what was owned by all. It would also explain why the hill is named Poggio Civitate, the hill of the cities, and the ritual nature of the complex's destruction, which my father suspected was carried out by Chiusi, who wanted to eliminate a political rival.
The site is open to the public: Take the Cassia (S.S. 2) south from Siena and turn off for Murlo shortly after Monteroni D'Arbia, drive though Vescovado, bear left at the fork about a half mile out of town, turn right after another half mile, up a little dirt road that leads to an abandoned quarry, and follow the footpath up the hill. To be frank, you won't see much - all that remains in the excavated areas are foot-high dry mortar walls that are slowly being reclaimed by the forest.

However, there's lots to see in the Etruscan museum in Murlo, the walled town perched on the hill (turn right, rather than bearing left, at the fork). The reconstruction of the roof of the more recent building, the one that was ritually destroyed, is especially impressive, and you really will feel like an Etruscan as you look up at the sphinx on the ridge pole, or shrink back from the row of gorgon antefixes that hang off the ends of the tiles. There are also dozens of smaller objects, everything from delicate Greek vases to coarse earthenware colanders, bronzes, and tiny, exquisitely carved jewels, including a griffin that would look just fine in Cartier's. Once you've seen the museum, take five minutes to explore Murlo (it's small), which was once a fortress of the Bishop of Siena, and is said to have "hosted" Galileo for a time before he made his Retraction.

If you've taken your time in the museum and come from farther afield than Siena, it will likely be time for lunch. There's a pizzeria in Murlo proper, and a nice restaurant in Vescovado, across from the tobacconist's at the upper end of town. For the afternoon? During the summer, when the excavation's in session, you can stop in at the laboratories where students will be at work, cleaning shards and restoring vases (you'll have to ask where the labs are). If you would rather a complete change of pace, on the other hand, visit Monte Oliveto Maggiore, one of Tuscany's most important and spectacular monasteries. To reach it via the back roads, bear left at the fork mentioned above (as if you were going to the site) and follow the signs for Buonconvento. It's about 10 kilometers, over dirt roads, through extremely pretty countryside. Once you reach Buonconvento cross the town and follow the signs for Asciano.

The monastery is about 8 km up the road. Park outside the gate and walk down the cypress-lined lane to the monastery. Though the present buildings are more recent, their seeds were planted in 1310, when Henry VII, Emperor of Luxembourg, crossed the Alps on his way to his coronation in Rome. Things went drastically wrong and he spent three years besieging the Guelf cities of Tuscany. The wave of bloodshed and vendetta that followed his death in 1313 so sickened Bernardo Tolomei that he withdrew to the most God-forsaken of his family holdings with Patrizio de'Patrizi and Ambrogio de'Piccolomini, and founded Monte Oliveto Maggiore. The monastery prospered under his direction, which came to a tragic end when he and 81 omonf his brother monks went to Siena to help the victims of the great plague of 1348: They all died. However, the monastery survived and thrived; in the following decades Olivetan monks were sent to Montecassino (the original Benedictine monastery) to reform it, and also established Olivetan monasteries throughout the land.

Because of the monks' influence and success Monte Oliveto became a major cultural center, as you will see when you enter the Great Cloister, which is beautifully frescoed with scenes from the life of Saint Benedict. Luca Signorelli painted some of the panels in the middle of the fresco cycle (they're easy to spot because their compositions are simpler), but Sodoma then took over the job and did the rest, producing one of his masterpieces. The cycle begins on the far side of the cloister, with Benedict leaving his home to study in Rome, and proceeds clockwise, with Benedict performing miracles, resisting temptations, and finally founding and running his monastery. The most interesting scenes are perhaps those in which he deals with rebel monks, who either try to poison him or try to smuggle "naughty women" into their chambers. Sodoma once remarked that he sweated seven shirts in doing the frescoes (i.e., he'd worked very hard), and in the last, Benedetto releasing a bound farmer with his gaze, he painted a shirt hung out to dry in the window of the building to the right.

Sodoma and Signorelli were not alone: Fra' Giovanni Da Verona, the monk who did the inlays of the choir stalls, was an inspired artisan, and the panels show everything from a view of the ruins of the Coliseum to lutes, complete with strings, that look like they could be picked up and played. Finally, don't miss the library, with its beautiful illuminated manuscripts.