It is not only an international horse show. Piazza di Siena is also a work of art housed within another work of art, the extraordinary Villa Borghese. The occasion was the 87th edition of Piazza di Siena, Rome’s international horse show, and the third edition jointly organised by CONI and FISE. The event was attended by 65,000 spectators, 25% more than last year. 30% of spectators were foreigners who came to watch the various competitions that make up this prestigious sporting event.
The competitions and the winners
On the afternoon of Friday 24th May, the Nation’s Cup was held, in which the riders competed in teams of four, divided by nationality. The Italian team, which finished in fifth position, once again included Luca Marziani with Tokyo du Soleil, part of the Tendercapital Stables. The Cup was awarded to Sweden. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella also attended the award ceremony and the day ended with a spectacular display by the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team.
The Tendercapital Stables award was held on Sunday 26th May, a special category with progressive levels of difficulty, featuring hurdles with a height of 1.5 metres. It was won by 28-year-old Michael Cristofoletti, an Italian who now lives in Germany, in Ibbenbüren.
Piazza di Siena: when sport meets art
The key themes of this edition not only included the redevelopment of the area and the maintenance and care – from the greenery to the masonry – of the Piazza di Siena site, but also the creation of a real map designed on the avenues of Villa Borghese. The goal is to present the villa to the city
in all its splendour, drawing paths of light, greenery and colours to discover the sights in the heart of Rome. Indeed one can argue that for this edition Piazza di Siena has “left” Piazza di Siena. Outlining different routes, following the light through the trees of the villa and the sculptural masterpieces scattered in every view. The route started from the historic Piazza di Siena oval, crossed Villa Borghese arriving on the Pincian Hill, and then descended from Via di San Sebastianello or from the Spanish Steps, accompanying guests, tourists and citizens in one of Rome’s symbolic streets: Via Condotti. This historic street, and the adjacent Piazza di Spagna, are meeting places for dozens of different nationalities, languages and cultures, thus becoming a metaphor for the encounter between cultures and Piazza di Siena’s ideal “twin” for spreading the city’s artistic excellence.
The second main route brought guests and citizens to the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, which houses the most comprehensive collection dedicated to Italian and foreign art from the 19th century to the present. The collection’s nearly 20,000 works, consisting of paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations, are the expression of the major artistic movements of the last two centuries, from Neoclassicism to Impressionism, Divisionism and the legendary avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, Futurism and Surrealism, and from the most conspicuous body of Italian art between the 1920s and the 1940s, from the Novecento Italiano movement to the so-called Scuola Romana.
The edition dedicated to Leonardo
On this journey of sport, art, light, greenery and architecture, the 2019 edition of Piazza di Siena featured the “presence” of one of the greatest geniuses in human history: Leonardo Da Vinci. Four reproductions of the legendary Leonardo’s Horse, reinterpreted by four great Italian artists, were placed near the oval. These four horses are an extraordinary tribute to the father of genius who indirectly influenced the dozens of artists who developed the Villa Borghese estate over the centuries.
Leonardo in Piazza di Siena is part of a larger project that CONI, FISE and the city’s institutions are overseeing with the aim of creating outstanding new models to support the cultural and artistic heritage of Rome. The four horses are a metaphor for Piazza di Siena’s mission to ‘move’ outside the villa in order to bring its extraordinary uniqueness to the city.
Tendercapital Stables
Tendercapital Stables was founded by Moreno Zani, Tendercapital’s president and founder, and Edouard Mathé, who contributed his experience and commitment to strengthening the outstanding reputation of the Tendercapital stables. Tendercapital shares many values with this sport: inspiration, commitment, passion and courage. There is such a close, innate bond between horses and the company that Tendercapital was named after a horse: Nontender, Moreno Zani’s favourite horse, from where it all began. Tendercapital Stables was the result of this passion and of the desire to build and arrange a Tendercapital team of horses and riders that can train and compete in the best competitions.