Feast of Tabernacles, the Nobile Contrada dell’Oca wins

Awarded a prize made by master goldsmith Paolo Penko to the children

In the Basilica of Santa Maria in Provenzano the prize-giving ceremony of the Feast of Tabernacles 2017 took place, organised by the Magistrate of the Contrade and the Comitato Amici del Palio. The winner is the Oca. The children of the Contrada were presented with the prize created by Master Goldsmith Paolo Penko.

The work, pierced and worked with penkato engraving, contains the image of the Virgin and Child, patron saint of the city of Siena, together with the attribute that makes it so: the recognisable and splendid profile of the city.
The entire figurative scene is accompanied by a scroll that flutters freely in the wind, like a labarum in Piazza del Campo, and which makes explicit, with an engraved phrase, the reason for the gift.

The brightness of the work is due not only to the light golden touches, applied almost like painted pigment, but also to the play of solids and voids which, in forming the precious clypeus, makes light a characteristic element of the jewel and refers to the meaning of sacred light, of the holy spirit protecting the city of Siena, depicted there, and, at the same time, of the person who will receive the medal.
In this object of sumptuous art with its modern and vibrant design, the Marian icon and the image of Siena find once again, thanks to the art of its creator and the references of devout tradition, a medium that unites them forever.