This was the Contrada of huntsmen from which the Sienese army chose the best archers. This accounts for the Contrada emblem and its right to open and close the procession which preceded the "Caccia ai Tori" (bull-hunt).
Its Seat is in the piazzetta della Selva and its Patron Saint is the Madonna Assunta. The Peruzzi style Church (Oratory of San Sebastiano) has a bas-relief in terracotta which represents the Virgin Mary with Child believed to be by Donatello.
Before the Church was officiated, the men of the Contrada met in the Cappella della Compagnia di San Giovanni Battista and after in the Pieve di San Giovanni. From here they moved to the present Church but were sent away after 10 years by a Granducal rescript in 1787 which assigned the Oratory to the Pantera Contrada, thus intensifying the rivalry between the two Contradas. The Selva then moved to the ancient Church of San Desiderio, famous for being used, for four months a year by the Government of the Republic of Siena (before the Palazzo Pubblico - Town Hall -was built). Together with the Churches of San Cristoforo and San Pellegrino. The damage done to the Church of San Desiderio by the earthquake of 26th May 1798 forced the Selva Contrada to move to the Church of San Nicolò in Sasso (Aquila Contrada territory) and finally in 1818, they moved back to the Oratory of San Sebastiano where they finally settled.
The painter and sculptor Lorenzo di Pietro, nicknamed "il Vecchietta" (1412-1480), the architect and painter Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439 to 1512) both lived on the territory of this Contrada.
The baptismal font is the work of Vinicio Guastatori (1965).
The "Società" is under the Church of San Sebastiano (Pantera Contrada territory).