PIAZZA DI SIENA 2024, A 'GREEN' JOURNEY THROUGH TIME AND ART
A world in one adjective: priceless, and unique.
The Piazza di Siena Horse Show is not just a great sporting event or the 'Wimbledon of equestrian sports', as some say. It is much more. It is a virtuous and symbiotic model which is mutually beneficial for the event and for its venue, Villa Borghese.
This has been made possible thanks to the annual maintenance of the area carried out by Sport e Salute Spa, consisting of horizontal greenery interventions in some specific areas and on some masonry structures as well as to the work carried out as of 2018 by the event organisers, FISE and Sport e Salute, in terms of art, culture, biodiversity, social, environmental and climate awareness. All this through direct or symbolic actions designed to capitalize on the amplification power of major sporting events.
THE PLANE TREE VALLEY “ETERNITY SENTINELS”, TURF AND BARRIER REMOVAL
The historic oval-shaped arena of the Jumping competitions has been brought back to its origin with the restoration of the turf instead of the silica sand in 2018; then it has been recently extended with 4,000 metres of grass, which is a strong message not only from a bio-architectural point of view.
>In fact, the final and officially authorized removal of the fence surrounding the Oval is a message towards inclusion through the elimination of all social, cultural, psychological and divisive barriers. Another metaphor with its natural symbolism in equestrian sports, where jumping over an obstacle - and therefore a barrier - is a crucial action to reach a sporting result. There is a strong commitment to the protection of biodiversity and of the planet's natural lung of the city of Rome, a Capital city with no equals in the world, not only for its historical-archaeological, landscape and architectural beauty, but also for the extension and variety of its green areas, which account for 67% of its municipal territory, that is 85,000 hectares out of a total of 129,000 hectares. These actions have been directed towards the conservation and improvement of the Plane Tree Valley (Valle dei Platani), where the eleven trees from the seventeenth century, romantically called the Rome “Eternity Sentinels”, and the younger ones have been trimmed to ensure their right exposure to light and their proper vital functions. The project has also included a new fence, effective signage and an ad hoc irrigation system.
THE MUSEUM JOURNEY THROUGH PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES: AQUILINO THE “SON OF THE WIND” AND THE MYSTERIOUS ROMAN KNIGHT
Piazza di Siena is also a “Museum spacecraft”, open to major art exhibitions in the Villa Borghese museums and a longstanding restoration workshop. For the first time, the Pietro Canonica Museum, located right in front of Casino dell'Orologio, will host the exhibition curated by Sandro Santolini “Questo è Aquilino figlio del vento” (This is Aquilino, Son of the wind), showcasing the portraits of the Rospigliosi horses from the Capitoline collections. The exhibition will feature a series of canvases by the German painter Johan Reder, plus a painting by Paolo Monaldi, portraying Camillo Rospigliosi’s famous horses.
An exhibition promoted by Roma Capitale - Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, in collaboration with FISE and Sport e Salute and the Museum Services of Zètema Progetto Cultura.
The Piazza di Siena Horse Show will also be a unique opportunity to admire the sculptural relief - 'Il Rilievo del Cavaliere' - from the first half of the 2nd century A.D., which will be on display during the event at Casino dell'Orologio. It is a piece of artwork from the 17th century nucleus of the Borghese Collection, which has been reassembled and cleaned up especially for this occasion thanks to the collaboration between Roma Capitale - Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, FISE and Sport e Salute; it is a relief featuring the front and the side view of a young knight with a scale armour and boots decorated with the lion skin, going forward and holding the reins of a horse with his right hand. The head facing the horse is ancient, but it originally belonged to another sculptural work. The type of armour, the fine harnessing of the horse and the look of the mysterious knight suggest his very high-ranking status, thus fuelling the mystery of his identity, right up to the most suggestive hypothesis of a leading imperial figure of the Trajan-Adrian period.
TIME, LIGHT AND MUSIC
If the light on the roofs of Rome is unique in the world, the light that illuminates Piazza di Siena is even more so. A natural light that filters through century-old trees and gently touches artistic and architectural works, thus making the Piazza di Siena Jumping competition a unique event in the world of sports. And with this light, time deceivingly appears to slow down and go backwards, travelling back to the atmosphere of the 1920s when it all began, a view the event organisers wanted to recreate through an architectural design approach.
And great classical music could be missing on the opening day, with a special concert of the orchestra conducted by Maestro Alvise Casellati organised by Intesa Sanpaolo. It is a private event, but, in line with the philosophy of the Piazza di Siena model, it can be enjoyed free of charge from the ancient grandstand steps around the Oval, upgraded during the restoration project thanks to the Horse Show. As always, the Piazza di Siena Jumping Competition will be free of charge for all to see from the ancient grandstands and from several green areas around the oval-shaped arena.