It probably derives from the coat of arms of the Brunelli family, the only family from Siena having a unicorn as heraldic coat of arms.
Silver badge with a rampant Unicorn on green grass. It is bordered with a light blue band with "HUMBERTI REGIS GRATIA" written in gold.
White and orange flag bordered in light blue.
The weapon I have in my forehead wounds and heals at the same time.
Science.
Goldsmiths
22
Saint John the Baptist, June 24th (celebrated on the 4th Sunday of June).
SanMartino
"Il Cavallino" (Little horse), V.Grassi Square, 6
Piazzetta Virgilio Grassi, 6
via di Follonica
San Giovannino della Staffa, Piazzetta Virgilio Grassi (officiated since 1966).
After the long pilgrimage in the Palaces of the noble lecaioli (especially in the Palazzo Sozzini) around 1660 the contradaioli managed to be hosted in the internal chapel, dedicated to San Giuseppe, of the Church of Saint John the Baptist where the homonymous lay company officiated. But already towards the end of the seventeenth the relations between Contrada and the Company were of very bad quality so much that, taking as an excuse the "graceless" use of the bells rung for the victory of 1704, the "brothers of the said company of Saint Giovannino, by deliberation... they sent the Lecaioli away from their Church". The detachment lasted over seventy years, a period in which the Contrada also held meetings at the Angel Tavern.
Finally in 1776 the agreement with the Lay Company was renewed and the Leocorno obtained the use of the Chapel where it remained until 1869 when, the Church of Saint George remained free due to the transfer of the Archiepiscopal Seminary, the Contrada asked and obtained the prestigious one headquarters which, however, was (and is) in the territory of the Noble Contrada of Nicchio.
After the Second World War the Church of San Giovannino in Pantaneto became free - due to the merger with the Parish of San Martino - and the Contrada did everything possible to get hold of what appeared and appears to be the natural site. This is also because the conditions of the Church of Saint George were really bad: at the end of the 50s of the 20th century the Mayor declared the tower of Saint George unsafe and ordered the eviction of the buildings within twenty meters.
Many objected, including a Praetor who, urged by a lawyer defending private interests, disavowed the union order declaring the Church non-dangerous. In fact, in the early months of 1960 a building site was opened at the Church and the Contrada found itself forced not to celebrate the Titular Feast.
In 1963 the Prior of the Contrada, Erminio Campanili. He submitted a detailed request to the then fresh Bishop of Siena Mario Jsmaele Castellano and on June 24, 1964 the transfer was agreed to the Contrada, in perpetual use, of the Church of Saint Giovannino della Staffa (in Piazzetta Virgilio Grassi). The agreement was signed on March 18, 1968 and on June 28, 1970 the Oratory was inaugurated.
We have heard of this Church since 1271 together with the Fonte di Follonica (so called because its waters were used by fullones, dyers and cloth washers) but it was rebuilt in the second half of the 16th century on a design by Giovan Battista Pelori.
Between 1590 and 1690 the best Sienese painters worked at the Church enriching the interior with numerous paintings still jealously preserved. Among these Rutilio and Domenico Manetti, Raffaello Vanni, Bernardino Mei, the "Francesino". The most significant work is undoubtedly the "Madonna della Pace" by Francesco di Vannuccio (from the end of the fourteenth century).
The organ of the Church makes its own history, the purchase of which was proposed by the chamberlain Matteo Matteucci in April 1677. The instrument, left as a legacy by Father Cristofaro Paci, cost 85 plates: the following month, subsequently to masonry and carpentry, the organ entered Saint Giovannino. The most important musicians of the sec. XVII and XVIII have played the instrument today returned to its ancient beauty and elegance.
On the three walls of the nave there is a large wooden choir in carved walnut; it is composed of thirty-two stalls. We know the date on which the Saint John the Baptist Company decided to build the choir entrusted to a "Maestro Matteo": it was December 15, 1579 but after some hardships new appointees intervened, the project was modified and only at the beginning of 1600 the work was completed.
Previous oratories:
- Saint John della Staffa (from about 1550 to 1704 and from 1777 to 1868).
- Saint George (from 1868 to 1966).
Work by the architect Carlo Nepi, built in 1997 it is situated in Via Pantaneto.