The Basilica of the Servants of Mary

The Marian Sanctuary

The Order of the Servants of Mary was immediately welcomed to Siena; besides the geographical vicinity to Florence, where the order was founded, their acceptance was natural here because of the strong tie the city has always had with the Virgin Mother, as is demonstrated also by the name of the cathedral, which since ancient times has borne the title of Our Lady of the Assumption.
One of the main rules of the Order established that each of its churches had to be dedicated to Mary, except where there were particular impediments. In Siena’s case, the construction of the church and convent on the site of the earlier church of San Clemente meant that it could not be held to this rule, but the Servites wanted to name the church for Mary anyway, leaving the title of San Clemente only for the parish.
An intense rapport was immediately established between Siena and the Servites, so much so that the first work placed on the high altar of the new church was the Virgin and Child known as the Bordone Madonna by the Florentine artist Coppo di Marcovaldo, painted when he was a prisoner in Siena after the Battle of Montaperti (1260).
The church of the Servites was considered a Marian sanctuary of major importance in Siena, second only to the cathedral, at least until 1611 when the new Collegiate Church of Santa Maria in Provenzano was built.
After the famous Battle of Montaperti, Siena defeated the Florentine army once again under the banner of the Glorious Virgin Mary in the Battle of Camollia on 25 July 1526. After this event, to thank Our Lady for her help, the city decided to dedicate a church to the Immaculate Conception. The choice fell to the church of the Servites, which had just been finished; it was consecrated in 1533. The Republic of Siena declared that from that moment on, every year, a week before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (8 December), the bells of the church would be rung festively; it was also established that the offerings of the guilds of Siena would be destined to the church of the Servites and no longer to the picture of Our Lady known as the “Madonna of the Vow” in the cathedral. The rector of the Opera della Metropolitana, responsible for the upkeep of the cathedral, opposed this decision, but in any case an annual offering was instituted for the Servite church.