Chapel of Madonna di Vitaleta
Giuseppe Partini · San Quirico d'Orcia, Italy · 1884
The small Madonna di Vitaleta chapel is set alone among fields and cypress trees in the Val d'Orcia. A sanctuary existed on the site earlier, but Giuseppe Partini is associated with the nineteenth-century rebuilding that produced the compact classical façade, bell gable and pale stone detailing seen today. Its fame depends on the relationship between modest architecture and carefully framed agricultural landscape rather than on scale or elaborate interior space. Reaching the chapel typically involves a walk from the road along an unpaved approach. The date refers to Partini's reconstruction; later restoration and current private management should be checked before publication.