Coincidence

During our recent trip to Italy, my husband and I stayed in Siena for four days. Though we had been told that the town was mundane (told by Italians), we enjoyed our time there including those places that were not geared toward the tourist trade. We liked the restaurant Tredici Mori very much and we walked outside the city wall to the communal garden area which has to be one of the oldest in the world. We purchased a work from a man who restores old texts, creates new illuminated pages, and repairs old books. This week we will pick up our piece from our local framer to hang in our bedroom. We did walk down St. Catherine's path which we found remarkably free of tourists. Perhaps that's because the walk is steep so going and coming back are not as easy as other parts of the town.

Coincidentally on our recent trip to Cambridge, the whole walking down memory lane, we went into Houghton Library at Harvard--the repository of many rare books, for a display and lesson about illuminated manuscripts. It was fascinating as well with the volumes displayed and interactive videos about how and why they were produced. Now I feel even better about buying a hand made, hand inked piece from the Sienese artist.