Belvedere

If conditions are just right, either when the sun is low on the horizon or, if higher, when patchwork cloud is in the sky, so-called ‘God rays’ can light up a landscape. These are known as sunbeams, sunbursts or crepuscular rays, though I prefer the appellation God rays, which connotes an ethereal and divine origin. These God rays illuminate the famous Podere il Belvedere, that most iconic and clichéd vista of the iconic and clichéd landscapes of the Val d’Orcia in the Tuscany region of central Italy.