I'm lucky enough to find myself in Italy. Yesterday I visited Siena where the Cathedral is truly remarkable. The main theme is white and black marble creating graphic stripes which represent the black and white horses of the city's founders. Designed and built between 1215 and 1263 every surface is rich in history and visual delights. While others looked up at the star studded ceiling, I was looking down. With my obsession for both inlaid patchwork and tiling I couldn't help but be enraptured by the elaborate floor. This massive expanse of pattern and picture is the work of over forty artists from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. The earlier scenes (including my favorite - The Wheel of Fortune) were executed using the graffito technique in which holes and lines made in the marble are filled with pitch or bitumen. The later works are intarsia or inlay in which the marble is cut into shapes to make the design. You'll see some details of both the interior and exterior here; however they don't do justice to the experience in the flesh.
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