Description
The Church of San Sebastiano in Vallepiatta looks onto the small Piazzetta della Selva in Siena and is the church of the Contrada della Selva: a small Renaissance building in the shape of a Greek cross, topped by a dome, born from the devotion of the neighborhood's weavers.
The Madonna della Selva is venerated on the high altar, a relief in painted stucco and terracotta from around 1474, attributed to Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Most of the walls were frescoed by Raffaello Vanni in the 17th century, and Rutilio Manetti's Crucifixion is painted around a crucifix of colored wood.
In 1492 the Weavers' Guild, based in Vallepiatta, asked the city government to build a church to its patron, Saint Sebastian. The work went on for decades and the brick facade was never finished: only the travertine portal, added around 1545-1550, is complete.
Handed over to the Contrada della Pantera in 1786, the church has belonged to the Selva since 1818.
The Madonna della Selva is venerated on the high altar, a relief in painted stucco and terracotta from around 1474, attributed to Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Most of the walls were frescoed by Raffaello Vanni in the 17th century, and Rutilio Manetti's Crucifixion is painted around a crucifix of colored wood.
In 1492 the Weavers' Guild, based in Vallepiatta, asked the city government to build a church to its patron, Saint Sebastian. The work went on for decades and the brick facade was never finished: only the travertine portal, added around 1545-1550, is complete.
Handed over to the Contrada della Pantera in 1786, the church has belonged to the Selva since 1818.