The bright haze of the afternoon softens after 5 pm; by 6:30, there is an ethereal lucidity as seen only in the compositions of the masters. It is as if one has stepped into a painting: Olive groves and a few ancient farm buildings are interspersed among cultivated and forested hills. Nearby is a hilltop village, its homes clustered together as if in fear of attack from the valley. At 8:15, the sunset colors make a fine silhouette of a lone olive tree, its large weathered trunk testament to the fact that it has witnessed many of these shows before. By 9:30, the last light has faded, the air has cooled, and a million stars dominate the sky.

At first light, a herd of long-horned cattle are seen below along the plain. They are being driven by a group of sturdy horses, upon which ride equally sturdy men. The long poles the men carry are used to open and close the gates of the various properties they must traverse during their daily ride. By 1 pm, the horses and their masters are ready for a well-earned rest. We caught up with these cowboys just as they were settling in for a siesta, their horses already reposing amid the olive trees. They were kind enough to share with us some of their home-made prosciutto ham, pecorino cheese, and wine…

We are traveling through Tuscany, the land of Michelangelo's David, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Chianti. The Tuscan cowboy, or buttero, abides just to south of the region's more well-known monuments, in the Maremma, a diverse area that encompasses the historic towns of Massa Marittima and Orbetello, the fertile hills and plains where the herds range, and an untamed coastline along the Mediterranean Sea.

Originally settled by the Etruscans, the Maremma was neglected during Roman times; during the Middle Ages the Republic of Siena tried without much success to develop the area as its access point to the sea. After Siena's loss of independence in the 16th century, the region slumped into a sparsely populated, malaria-ridden backwater, which it would remain until the second half of last century. The mostly unsettled land was however an advantage for the butteri: they were able to drive their special white cattle uninhibited across sea plain and hills. The butteri are famous for their highly-skilled herd handling and their unsurpassed riding ability. One story is especially telling: In 1911, Buffalo Bill and his traveling troupe of American cowboys invited the butteri to a rodeo in Rome. Much to Bill's surprise, the Tuscans soundly licked the Americans in competition. The butteri are still among the most acclaimed cowboys in the world, riders from the region running in Siena's famous (and insane) Palio horserace every year.