Siena: City ofthe Virgin
at night, a parr of the myth recalled by Siena's heraldic crest, the balzana , divided horizontal ly with a wh ite field above and a black one below. The myth is recalled rep eatedl y o n the facade of Siena'5 town ball with sculpted images o f Romulus and Remus being suckled
by rhc Sh e-wolf and with the balzana :\ppcar o ing under each arch (see Fig. 5.23). But Siena's civic trad itions were aIso deeply Christian. III 1260, just before a decisive military victory ar Monraperri over their arch rivals, the Florentines, the Sien ese dedicated themselves and their city to the Virgin Mary. Thereafter the citizens saw the Virgin as th eir protectress against n atural d isas ter and h u man aggressio n. Thus she appear s accom panied by an gels on rill' cover ofthe city's offi ciaI 1467 account bo oks (sec the illu strarion Oil this page), extending her gracc over the city "in time of earthquakes" (Ua l tellllO de termuoti ' in old Iralian ). /\ particularly seve re set of tremors hit the h ill ra p city and its su rround in g countryside during 1466 and 146 7. moti vating many citizen s ro ser tip camp in th e city's piazzas and outside the city waJls su ggest ed by the tents and temporary wooden structures d ep ict ed ill the j{lI'l>ground. Golden rays pour down from heaven on its pink brick walls and towers, marking the city as both protected and blessed. At t he center. located
behind and [(1 either sid e ofan impressive cit)' gate. rise Siena's (WO most signi fica nt COIll munal monurncnrs: the splend id ly striped cathedral complex and the barrlcmcnred rower o f the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena's city hall, As in Florence. the two are located ollly
icna 's foundation myth is myrhological, claiming that S(he ciry had been founded by Scnius and Asch ius, the (above) Biccherna Cover, TIl(' Virgin Protects Siena in tile Time orE" rr h q ~'l kc> , sons of Remus. one of the twin founders of Rome. Thus 1468. commissioned by th e o ffici a ls of th e Bicc hcrna (flna/Klal Siena claims a history virtually as o ld as Rome's. Fleeing adrrurustratio n] proba bly from Francesco d i Giorgio Martini, Tempera on pa nel. 2 1 ~, x 16 \i" (54 x <1 1 em) their uncle, Romulus, after having stolen the shrine of the The Ro man numerals 011If", panel provide the date .I.lnua,y 1, 1466. but glvo n She-wolf in Rome, Scnius (from wh o III rhe ciry took its that the new yl:<'lr did no t begm III Siena unti l March 21, this wo uld correspond name) and Aschius were protected on their journey north to the modern year 1467. Th e cover was probably co m rnrssroncd tlu- rollowmg wards by a white cloud during the day and a black cloud yea r, 1468, when the JCCO lH ll S were co mpleted and bound. 99 San Francesco [Franciscan] 1 POrl.l Ro mana ~ Fa IIII' Gaia ./ Pi.l a •• lid Campo 5 Palazzo Pubhl ico (, Bap tistry o f San Ci ovanni 7 Duo mo [Cathed ral) H San Domenico {Dominican) 'l IIosp ital of the SG1 1 ~
100
Z o a: > w I I- u, o > I U <:: z w
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i 11
a short dista nce fro m one anoth er, and a processional The Cathedral road winds u p the hill between them. Their dual p rim acy in civic co nsciousness is emphasized br their nearly equivalent When th e Sicncsc dedicated their cathedral (Figs. 5.1 an d he igh t on th e horizon-no sma ll stru ct u ral fea r fo r the 5.2) to the Virg in of the Assumption they wer e cxp ressing communal LOwer ~iven the fact that th e Palazzo Pubblico both religio us an d civic aspirations. The opera: (b ui lding is located in a low pan of the city and the cat hed ral at su pervi sors) were mostly laym en chosen by th e city govern its highest. ment, ro keep acco u nts and supervise wo rk. Cit ize ns were In th e thirteenth cen tu ry Sien a was a rep u blic dominat also expected to conrribure time and money to th e ca rhe ed by merch an ts and ban kers, T he coats ofa rms and names dral's co ns tru ction. in clud ing a tw ice-yearly co m mitment of the city's leaders ap pear o n our accou nt book panel , to prov ide can s and beasts o f burden for transportmg which is framed so tha t it co u ld be put on public d ispl ay to b u ilding ma te ria ls to the site. celebrat e th e city's financ ial well-being and exemplary fiscal Siena Cath edral was st rLlcrura U\, comp lete ) .. I .' 12605. gOVCl'lllllcn r. \Vhile Siena did nor "njoy a locatio n o n the Unlike earIlercemml Italian cathedrals, which ge ne rally had sea or a navigabl e 1'1ver, her ecollomy j'Jou rished becau se pla in columnar su pports an d ,1 wooden tr us s support for
;i'l~'~llgtn\'JT(rl"fi>"O l {o mall Via Francigena) pa ssed the roof. Sien a's I) UlJ1ll 0 boasts compo und piers support diJ.l:w\!....thI'Hloli,.J-r-rhe crrv 011 the way ro Rome fro m France ing ro un d diaphragm arches and a vaulted ceiling. These " ------" (sec map 0 11 rll is pa ge). Tit us, ilhrim s traveling to Rome clemen ts may refl ect th e exa m ple of a. number ofmonastic frorrr-rhc !lot (II an(f-C;;-n mercia l tra c ro utes passed complexes bu ilt by northern Eu ropean m onks around Siena th rougl1the dty. Substantial de )Osits o r h igh quali ty si lver or perhaps ha w S()UrCC5 as till' away as Germany or south in f ~ : ro ll n cl i n g h ills al$lJ encourage co mmerce an d wes t Fran ce, where sim ilar co ns truction was po pu lar. Siena 's hi nkm g, cm powerin' the Sienese ro become th e papacy s trade rs and ba n kers co nd ucted business acro ss Eu ro pe, and pri ncipal bankers from the carli' thirtcent 1 centlit', the ca thedral suggesrs their awareness of con tem pora ry tht:olighimKh of the f()lll~~ll'Y, a rchitect ural develo pments in Fran ce and Germany. The Pulpit
In 1265 the Siencse hired Nicola Pisano (c. 1220- 1'284) to design and carve a new marble pulpit for their cat hedral (fig. 5.3). Nicol a seems to have begun his career ill the southern Italian workshops established by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick rr (1194-1250). The classically oriented ideals Nicola learned in the imperial court served him well in his firs t documented commission, a marble pulpit completed and sig ned in 1259/60 Ior the Pisa Baptistry (Fig. 5.-1) . Pisan o's rep ur ari on as a highly talented sculptor and head of an efficient workshop must have hroughr him 101
to the attention of the Sicnese Opera. --4 I As in Pisa, the Siena pu lpit con sists of a polygonal plat rn r\ form raised on columns and faced with marble reliefs ::< -j depicting key moments in the life ofChrist, culminating in I m scenes of the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment beneath o )J the lectern. In Siena. however, Nicola substantially clabo ::< r rated the original scheme. TIlL' Siena pulpit is octagonal, whereas Pisa's is hexa gonal. allowing a corresponding increase in rh e number of reliefs from five ro seven: each panel includes more figu res and episodes, and the figures a re freed more completely from their stony marrix. In both pulpits he demonstr at ed a knowledge of Gothic
5.1 Siena Cathedral, complet e by the 1260 s, vaults ra ised and apse expanded c. 1355-86, commission ed by the Opera; of Sien a Cat hed ral
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5.2 Siena Cathedral, pla n .
1 Chapel orSan Savino, Pietro Lo renzett i, B,r:}, of :/le Virgin; 2 Chapel of S..aru 'Ansa uo, Simone Mart in i, Ann unciat ion ; 3 l"v1ai n altar , Duccio, /1dm ~slJ; 4 Chapel ofSan Vinorio, Bartolomeo Bulgarini. Nativity; 5 Chape l of San Cresccnzio, Ambrogio Lorenzett i, P" ,i/ica:lOnof the Vlfbm; 6 Baptistry on level below; 7 Projected nave or enlarged churc h, planned 1321-22, foundation 5.3 Pulpi t, ·1265 , co mmissioned by th e Op era I of Siena Cat hedral from laid 1339, work halted 1348 Nicola Pisano for Siena Cat hedral I\brbl~ goddess. l ler curly hair, flar nose. full lips, and broad face all recall ancient protot.ypcs, :IS does her pose, relaxed and dignified at the same rime, Holding her he;ld erect, s he pays no spcci fir arrenrion 1'0 Joseph or the small female figu res, reduced in size according to the conventions ofhieratic per spccrivc, who bathe rhc Christ Child below her. The C hild appears again above her lap, tightly swa d dle d in his crib, where the shepherds (now headless) hear the news of Christ's birrh from an angel seemingly wed ged between the limbs of two t rccs. The entire composition is cramped and tight, so much so that the scene at the far left of the angel 102 Gabriel appt'aring to the Virgin is partially truncated. Still, z the scale and crisp drapery folds surrounding the protago nists make the relief highly legible. In Siena Nicola abnndoncd graphic clarity in tavor of greater emotional veracity. In the Crucijixion relief Christ hangs heavily from the cross. which emphasizes his suffe r L. a ing, rather than appearing :IS 11<.' did in Pisa with his > f arms and hands outstretched and relaxed. \Vh ill' both u reliefs emphasize t hc horror of the eVClH with figures cow 5.4 Pulp it, 1259/60. commissioned by (3' 5h,,1' Federi co Visconti from Nicola Pisano for the Baptistry, Pisa. Marble, height c.I S' (4.6 m) architectural forms such as the trilobed cu sping on the arches under the relief panels and in the attached triple columns placed between each relief at Pisa, but the Siena pulpit is more thoroughly Gothic in derails. Unlike the Pisa pulpit, with its rigid separation of relief panels and colum nar frames (not unlike the architectural separation of nar rative reliefs on Roman triumphal arches), the Siena pulpit follows the example ofGothic church portals, transforming the columnar divisions into human figures and un ifying the entire surface of the pulpit. Nicola may well have made a trip to northern France, as h is son Giovanni is later thought en have done, for images such as the handsome Christ figure (Fig . 5.5) separating the panels of the Massacre o(tlJe Innocents and the Crucijixion, along with the writhing cru cified Christ. can be rrnccd to earl ier examples of this type in the ilc de Prance. Oil.!!::..: other hand, th l : reliefs on Nicola's l'arlier ~ all man ifest his deep appreciation ofdassical Roman sculp rure, especially the compact and dense compositions of K6inan sarcophagi, maov ofwhich he could haw studied in P·ls-a's civic burial ground, the Camposanro (see Figs. 8.1 and 8.2). In the Annunciation, Nati!Jil)" and Annunciation to tile"' 5.5 Christ (detail of pulpit) . 1265, commissioned by the Operai o f Siena SlieplJel·JS(fig. 5.6), Mary reclines majestically like a Roman Cathedra l from Nicola Pisano for Siena Cathedral. Mar ble 5.6 Na/wily . derail fro m th e pulpit . 1259/12 60. com missioned hy Bishop Fedenco Visronti im m Nicola Pisano .,;,.-·~1, ,. \ - -- .... .j • ' ,,~ c ·\'.1...·"J; ior ,h. Haptist ry, Pisa Ma rb le, 2' 9:(' -. . '. " " I --, I " " " . ,'" ' r ; ". '<» _, . .., ' . ". x :1' 81." (85 >: 1 13 ern) "',- '" " 0,., '"" . ' ,, ', ' " " ',I , , '", " ~ -. - ~ - ,:;\ ~ J ~'l~j ;~i~'>' .;p, ~ t:I ,~ \:t, ~' .. l ~ . ~ _ " ~~~u"'ll I.'.!'<"'~,.I. ~~'d", .~.... h , \) '. - . 'r(, " M,N ,W l ' 'r ',','" , " , ;' / . , ... I I I \. 1\;, 'j to them. In The of ',<', ' , ,~ r "' ""F . t , '. ' , ,t • ~ J ~ the [;111O(('II!.'· a r the lefr (sec ' <,;, ' .... ' .cC, ,f.J: '!i ,'1; " "''-', \"1>1 , Fig. 5.3). a viol ent sto ry which "it ;-;;I':{L'J\)' ~I , ,,~;~,, '<"';J{~" ~~~ ~\"J appears 011 rhe Siena pulpit \~\": ~~.L.>), > ~~ . ' 1 <, t \\ ?I"'ll "k,,'.' J, 1 ,\. but nor at Pisa, so ldie rs thrust 1" ~IIl. \ ~ '" ,~\ \\ .;1.1 II" _\ i. "'. .'~_ '.:'.' ..: . , _, da gg l~rs into wriLi lillg ba bies. ' ~I' n~' - ~~k~,~ ' ~~~~:~ . ~j~;l /l ~jlz. ,: ~?~;~,I' I j Iv Mothers tear their ha ir in I '~ , .. , \\\ -,/, I , -' ~1 ' 'ttI''7'" . .11 iJ?I " , _ =--, '.. 103 grief Space fl ows arou nd all \'~ (i> ~ ~/~~.' . " ,,'1~ /#r~" -1 I, \< -tlJ ". j . ~"} l~~ ~J .. ,:11.' J' :r I- M • • , ...... the figures , who ar c thus able 'f " ~" , ~~, ...... , . ,' \..~ ;....; ."' ~'-' --~ 'J ' B '....,., m ' ' ',:,,,' , ,.. . - c, "" " n to move mo re freely tha n rhe ' . I!. " .. ' . ',' _, "' " ,;' .... ~_ > ,,,_ ,· ~I f",I~ " ~. ';:;lf~/l!4:l.i~ .,: -1 weighty figures of th e Pisa Ii'\! ' ~I ' 'l, ..", ~. ~ ~~ (,';' '; I ' .! J . ' . -,.. L • . . , __" . ., ._ rn reliefs,Still, ill irs vert ical piling ' ~ " I l ,~,: , .~"" '>..,';. .i~l)~'? ", ), ~i, ~.~ , -,_. c' o l' /:,/& 1.1 J ,II ,. .. j 0' ;to up of figure s. the Siena reliefs ) :I - ~~ "Y~~~l "; r "'-. - ~ r'l./ "')~ J.~ ' t ~ ~ '. (t' ? / <1. _ suggest that Nico la continu ed ,., .... (J, , - - " ",\ .... c .. ,.',1, ...... _ . , LO be impressed with what he ~ • ~ • • ~ ~-".'I. • ' i _ .~, ( , ',. ..-.,., ..-. \ ' .,. '. • , C' '"~ '_~. __--'-"~ ,. " .,. had seen 011 lare Ro ma n batrle \:?' 'I-./'~~' i/{l " \, -,' ,~}~~•1J'!t, '~,~~~~-= \..•. -'. ___ . '.,._,.. , sarcophagi, where figures are ' '.is similarly disposed, even while so many (lrher aspects of t he pulpit docu mem his fascinat io n WiLh transalpine models. Since Vasari, histo rian s of the Renaissance have rended to respond more positivd y to the Ro ma n classicizing style of ~ i col a' s Pisa pulpit than to his work in Siena, because the Renaissan ce was consrrued :IS :I revival of the earl y Roman anrique. Ho wever. the classical traditions em b0died in the Pisa reliefs co nstit uted but one stran d to which Renaissance artists an d patrons turned for inspiration. The Gothic naturalism , mowment, and cxpressivity of t he Sien a relief.., dOClllll em mher po ssibilit ies. The Fas:ade Around 1284 Sicnese ofti cials placed Nicola 's son, Giovanni (1245/50 Pisa-131 9 Siena). who h:Id collabora ted with his father on carving in Siena and played an active rol e in ot her lIlaJor cOlllmissions in Bologna, Pel'llgia. an d Pisa, in cha rge of providing a ~:l .;- ad l' for Siena 's Duomo (Fig. 5.7) . Wirh its triple portals and d rama tically rising gables Giovanni's fa ~ ,lde dl'monstrat es a t:lmiliar ity wit h no n hern Gothic mo,iels. Bur the relat ively modest width of the ca th ed ral's nave and aisles left littl e room for th e scu lptural deco ration around the portals that was a standard feature of th e C; nrhic trJdirion. Instead Giovanni co nceived an ens em ble oC li gures o n nalTow plat (orm s JUSt ab ove the po rt als and extending around rhl' l'lltwred sides of the fa ~-ad e. Man y ofGiovanTli's s i b~tls. prophets , and other O ld Testamcm fig ures se,~1l1 LO be engaged in conversation with one an other and with rlw world bdow. Giovanni knew thar the figures 5.7 Siena Cathedral, 1284 - 99 , lower hali o f r;1<;·ade. including S I ,!t U C ~. would be seen (rom a good diStan ce below. $ 0 he dram ati com missioned by the Operai o l'S,clla C n hcdra l from Giovanni Pisano cally exaggerated their pllSCS and carving. and pos it ioned (origina ls II0W In Musco dell'Op era del [)u omo . Siena ) them to lean forward inro space. In the figure ofIsaiah , for example (Fig. SB), Giovanni peppered the propher's beard with numerous drill holes which enhance the dramatic play of light and shadow across and aro u nd t he face. In spi te of rh e statue's weathered surface. its expressive facial fcarurcs still evoke a prophet's impassioned exhortations. Duccio's Maest» On October 9. 1308. the head ofrh e ca rhcd ral works signed a contract with Duccio for a large altarpiece for rhe cathe 104 dral's main altar. then under the d ome. The main panel of z the altarpiece, which depicts the Virgin in Majesty, is now I,J known simply as the Maest« (Fig. 5.9) . It expresses visually c:: > the dedication of the city to the Virgin made fo rm al at the UJ I rime of the Barrle of Montaperri against the Flo ren t ines in f 1260. Duccio's altarpiece followed six years after his com IL o mission for another altarpiece of the same subject for the > f chapel of the ruling council of Siena (the Nove or Nine) in u [he Palazzo Pubblico (city hall). Thus both cathed ral and < Z cit}' hall repeal the sam e imagery, arresting to the continu UJ ous interpenetration ofsacred and secular arc in Italian city 51arcs of this rime . Because the Maestd occupied a free-standing position under the dome. it was painted on both sides. Its bright colors, set against luminous gold backgrounds in the ico nic tradition, and its original elaborate gilded frame 5.S 1s",,,I1. c. 1 28 ,1, co rnrmssro ncd by till' Operai o f Siena CHhtdral from with finials punctuating the space between the llppermost Giovanni Pisano for the fac ade of Siena Ca thedra l. Marble, heighr of panels, must have sh one brilliantly agains t the som ber entire figure 6' 2 ~'," (1. 89 rn) (M usco dell'Opcra del Duom o. Sien a) black and white marble interior of the cathedral, bathed CONTEMPORARY VOICE The Procession of the Maesta ------,_ ..._..._ - -- _ ._ -- -- - _ .__.. _------ The completion of Duccio's Macs!J in U!] the altar of St . Bon iface, was taken down. hands took places near the picture, and and its installation in the Duorno occa Now this Our Lady was she who had hear behind came the women and child ren With sioncd a cirv-widr celebration. The panel kened to the pe ople of Siena when the great devotion. And they accompanied the wa, removed from Duccio's workshop on Florentines were routed at Monte Aperro said picture up to the Duomo. making the the outskirts of the city and carried in pro {the battle of Montapcrti, 1260I, and her procession around the Campo, as is the n'SSIOll tel its designated posuion above the pla ce was changed because the new one custom, all the bells ringing Joyously, out of ca rlu-d ral's high altar. This ("()J1[ e!llporar)' was made, wh ich is far more beautiful and reverence for so noble a p,cture as IS rhrs. accou nt reflects not only t he splendor of devout and larger, and is painted on the And thi s picture Duccio d i Niccolo the the occasion but also rhc inseparable con back with the stories of the Old and New painter made and it was made in the house nccrio ns be rwcen civic and rei igiolls Iife' ill Testaments. And on th e day that it was car of rhe Muciatti outside the Icrty] gate .. . . European cines dllling the Middle Ages ried to the Duomo the shops were shut , and And all that day they stood in prayer with and Renaissance, the bishop conducted a gre"t and devout grear almsgiving for poor persons. praying co mpa ny of priest s ilnd friar s in solemn Cod and HIS Mother, who IS our advocate. At this ti me th e alt ar piece for the high altar pro ces sion, accompanied by the nine sig· to defend us by th eir infinite mercy fi'om was finished, a nd th e picture which was nori, and all the officers of the co mmune. every adversity and all evil, and keep LIS called the "Madonna with the large eyes," and all the people. and one after another from the hands of traito rs and of the or Our Lady of Grace, that now hangs over the worthiest with lighted ca ndles in thc ir enemies of Siena . ------(from Charles Eliot Norton His!(}fJ(al '<;r,, 5.9 Moest,; (fi'om sid e ), 13 08-1 I, co mmissioned by the O pera de l Duorno from Duccio for the high a lta r 01 Siena Cached-a]. Tempera a nd go ld lea f o n panel. i x 13' (L.U x 3.96 01) (i'vluseo dell'Opera de] Duorn o, Siena ) in the light streaming down from the windows of the Duccio, in the cast' wall of the building, would haw given it dome (later, sadly, tilled in). Add itional. colored light an alm ost magical radiance. T hus pa inting and window from the huge round st ained glass window depicring functioned together to glorify Siena's patron, the Queen the Death, Assumption, and Coronation uj' the \liI~!jIl . also by of Heaven . 5.10 Moesl" (reverse side ), 1308- 11, commissio ned by the O pera del Duo rn o fro m Duccio fo r the high altar o f Siena Cathed ra l. Tcmper.i .ind gold Ic;I(,Jn pa nel, 7 x 13' (2. 13 x 3. 96 m ) (Musco dell 'Opera del Duomo, Siena) The alta rpiece was removed from th e cathedra l m 1771, when il was sawn mro several smaller pieces. The heraldi« "t'." "f,h,..0p"r" ntlhl' l ,.\thedr,,1probably "ppcMed on ,lil' origina l frame . 106 z V :>' > u, I f u.. o > f- U < Z w '"" 5.11 M'/<'SIC;, (\':' ;11 1o r reverse side showing th e Washing or ehe Feet and Lost 5.12 1\1"".'1'; , deta il of reverse side showi ng the fo try intoje rusalem, Supper. 1308 -1 . '10 X 21" ( 102 x 53 em ) 1308-1 1. 40 X 22" ( 102 x 56 em) The front of the M'h'Slil sh ows the enthroned Virgin and renow ned cit izens. and serves as a rem inder rh ar artists had Child, flanked by saints and an gels. The main panel was IOI1~£ marked bmh th eIr pride in their wo rk ;lna r11ci?p1 ct >, surtnounicd by rruncared figu res o f Apostles a nd. at rhe byplacing thc ir names in conseicuolls posirions on th eir next level up, b~ ' separate panels showing scene s from work': Do cllm cn ~ of the period record h i~h fees paid to the life of the Virgin. Small panels depict ing an gels ma y ~ artists and even indicate t hat some on occasion originally have crowned each of these sce ne s. Among rhe served'as political L'missaries for th eir city-states . - - figures nanking the Virgin in Lite main panel arc other :vIrh rl1t' Mlle"fa Siena at last had a work by Duccio that saints: Ansanus. Savinus, Crescentius. and Victor who kneel cou ld C(llnparl' with the Rl!cell'li Madonn« (set: Fig. 4.13 ), in the front row. Though relatively'obscu re members of rhe whi ch he had made for th e Co rn pagn ia dei Laudcsi in sai ntly hierarchy, th ese arc pa tron saints o f Siena. and th eir Florence more than twenty years ea rlier. Predating Giotto's prom ine nce indicates rhar rhis was as much a civic as all Ogni"" The 'l ol1long f'gu,,-, of t. Ansa nus and St. Margaret (?) may have been pa mtcd by Lippo Mcmml , Simon-..··Sbrother-In-law and ass.srant . They wer" {) l r~ a d y 108 cut from the central panel by the Z eighteenth cen tury. The present G {ra ITH" i-, modern . et: > LU I I- u, o ) I ~ -0:: Z w Vl The explanation for this apparcnt stylisti c shift may lie in the purpose that the altarpiece served. IkG1USt: the Annunciation was inrcndcd to fun ction as a narrative exten sion to Duccio's M,lest(l on the high altar, Simone echoed the style ofthe earlier painting in order to provide a unified decorative program for the cathedral. Thus, like Duccio's l\-ld£'sta, Simone's Annunciation uses a gold background and elongated figures, the edges ofwhose drapery create a sinu ous surface pattern quite independent of the bodies beneath. The murabiliry of style during thi s period call be seen again in Simone's frescoes for the Monrcfiorc Chapel in the lower church at Assisi, painted for rhe Franciscan cardinal Gentile Parrino da Monrefiore (d. 1312) before he received the commission for the Siena Annunciation, The cycle depicts events in the life ofSt. Martin ofTours. When compared to both earlier and larer work by Simone the se frescoes demonstrate clearly that he had access to a variety of stylis tic possibilities and used them as they were appropriate to the subject matter of his painting. For this narrative sequence he employed a naturalism reminiscent of the work of Giotro , Although the musicians standing at th e right of The Investiture (~rSt. Marun (FiS. 5.14) arc dressed in rich decorative robes befitting princely retainers (Sf. Marrin 5.14 Tho invcstllure of 51. Mar:;Il, c. 1320-30, commissioned by Gentile Parrino da Montcfto rc fro m Simone Martini for the Lower Church. San Francesco, Assls). Fresco. width c. 9' 2::" (2 .8 rn) S.l s 8"th of lhe Virgrn , c. 1335-42, comrrussroncd by rhe Opera del Duomo from Pietro Lorenzetti for the altar of St Savmus, Siena Cathedral. Tempera o n panel, 6' I/" x 5' 11 1:" (U17 X un rn) IMuseo dell'O peru del Ouomo, SIena ) anteroom off the birthing chamber in front of a luminous pink court yard t ha t rises wi t.lt remarkable amplitude in the background. To th e rig h t An na reclines in a double bayed room surrounded by arrcn 109 dams: one holds a striped fan ; --1 I others b ring foo d and drink; two m n others wash the holy child, the > --1 woman in green seen from the back I m clearl y derived from figures such o ;>J as those introduced by Giotto in p his La mentation in Padua (sec ri g. .. 3.11). Pier o's only apparent debt to local Sicnese trad itions is his usc o f rich ly decorative details such as rh c br ightly colored vaults, the inlaid tloor tiling, an d the plaid bed clothes, all demonstrating an empirical, though not quire full y accurate, perspective. T he stylistic differences between Sim one's and Pietro 's altarpieces can be well explained in several \Va,'s: differ hac being made a kn ight), they betray their co ncern for cnccs of artistic training and personal style: [h e artists' singing th e notes correctly by their worried fac ial expres willingness or unwilliugncss to transform the ir individual sions and the d ifficulty of blowing through the pipes by styles to conform to that of an existing image at rhe sire: bulbous cheeks. The volumetric density of th e figures and and, politically, from [he wishes ofrhe Nine to suggest close the carefu lly structured architectural frames were most like relations with their ersrwhi le rival Florence, to which they ly painted in rhe years between the Go thic elt'gance of were all ied as members or the T us ca n League by the time Sim one's Maest':l and h is Ann unciation, thus precluding any Pietro received his co mm issio n. simple de scri ption of hi s style as moving in a linear fashion In his Purifiratioll of tIl<' Virgin (Fig. 5.1 G) Ambrogio toward narunrlism. l.orcnzerri (active 1317-48. Siena) went even further than By 1342 , when Pietro Lorenzetti (active 1306-48 Siena) his broth er in exp lo ring illus io nistic space. Ambrogio had comple ted hi s Hirth oItbe Virgilr (Fig. 5.15) for rhe altar of worked in Flo rence wh erl' he enrolled in the pa tnter's glllId St. Savinus in Siena's cath ed ral, the stylistic unit}' for rhe infhe 1330 s, but appropriate to the con~i s s lO n he set overal l progra m for the cathed ra l al tars had been breached. ~lary s r1tua1 cleansing and the Chnst Cllilas I'resenration Pietro 's Flo rcn rine training dominat es rh is painring and in rhc Te m ple In a buildi ng clearly ('voc ative of the interior suggest s that the new naturalistic style was beginning to orr-~t h e d ra l in which it sto od (see Fig. 5. 1). ItL'iQ.doin,g, win favor even in Siena. Like Simone's /snnunciation, Pietro's ~brogio conflared ti me and space, making the Virgin 's Birth ojtl» VilXin was originally flan ked by a pair of sai n ts, life a preserirp-aiTOf'Slen ese expenence. As Gi orro ha d""Zi one now lost. But unlike SiD)oPI' ...£i.:tro ha s created a unified il-:;-- the Peruzzi Chapel in Flo rence ~Figs. 4.17 and 4.18), ~ illusio n istic space across th e pan el, imagi ni ng the divisions Ambrogio shows both the interior a nd exterio r ofth e b uild of ·the frame a~hitecrura I SUPR0 rts t haI' coordli1ate ing and perches figures and festoons a long th e roar's edge, \yTrll d~ space he paints bebiJ1i. them and en d owin~ miniaturizing them to suggesl grea r h eight. T he rwo larger subject with all t ~ ral. ail t:lmiliar in Flo rentine' statues on the Iro n r of the sr ru ct u rc, o n the other hand, pai nting o f th is tim e. At rh e far left a you ng boy d resse I n allude directly to Sienese precedents, especially GiOV Later Sienese Altar Painting Sicnesc painting in the second half of the four te-Cilth century perpetuates th t~ figural styles ._' J- 110 eSta))Iisheo t'arher in the ccn rurv bv Duccio r-- - ~ ( Z and Sim on e Martini des ite the work of th e I..J Lorenzetti brothers. This conservatism m :l.Y <:E: > have been a reaction to the political uncertain LlJ I ty that prevailed after the expulsion ofth e N ine f0 IL ill 1355. For example, th e Adoration oftbe Magi o (1390 s?; Fig. 5.17) by Bartolo di Fredi (act.ivc > f- 1353-97 Siena) employs the same curiously styl U ized rock-like structures for 111l1U1Ha ins, CO I11 <>: Z pressed space, arabesque curves of drapery, an d LlJ Vl elongated figures previously encountered in Duccio's A1,zesta (see Fig. 5.12). The horses and the Magi pile up in front ofthe Virgin and Ch ild in a colorful heap, their procession th reading fairy tale-like in th e background, where they encounter Herod in a jerusalem that once again is styled as Siena itself. Almost as if in conscious opposit ion to Florentine style, painters such as Niccolo di SCI' Sozzo (active 1334-63 Siena) and his sometime collaborator Luca di Temme (active 1356-89 Siena) created altarpieces (Fig. 5.18) that to all intents and plll'poses arc indis tinguishable from those of the earlier p;'ln of the cenmry. Saints stand in isolatio n to the sides of the enthro ned Madonna and Child as th ey had in the altarpieces around Duccio's Maesta (sec Fig. 5.13) . Blond hair, tooled gold, and delicat e facial features mark these works as 5.16 P~r;(i«1tj,m 0f 1hi' V,~m , 1342, co mmissioned by the Opera del unmistakably Sienese, Their distinctive style of painting Duomu from Ambrogio Lorenzetti for the alt ar o f St. Cresccnzio , Siena Cat hedra l. Tempera on panel, 8' 5X" x 5' 6u''' (2.57 x 1.68 m) was a civic treasure to be cherished and maintained as a (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) political act of self-definition distinguishing Siena, through irs art, from its neighboring-« and rival-city-states. Simeon holds with covered hands, showing the same rever cncc that priests demonstrated for the host during proces Tomb Sculpture sions of the Eucharist. This is the live and true body of God incarnate: a child who sticks his fin gers in his mouth Sicnesc sculpture was equally rich , and its practiuoncrs and kicks his feet in an eye-catching wra p of red cloth shot found ready patrons both in an d outside the ciry, espe cially with blue highlights. While all is calm and sedate among at the courts ofMilan and Napl es. Tino di Carnaino (c. 1280 the Virgin, her female companions. and Joseph at the left Sicna-1337 Naples), a leading early fourteenth-century side of rhc altarpiece, Christ's energy is palpable on the Sienese sculptor who trained in the worksh op ofGiovanni right, where the prophetess Anna, wrapped in a rem arkably Pisano , served as capomaestro of the cathed ral workshop of vibrant violet robe, points to the child. Her gesture gives Siena in 1319-20. His only aurhenricared work in th at city mea ning to the word s on her scroll recogn izing [he child as is the marble tomb of Cardinal Riccardo Petroni (d. 1314), the long-awaited savior. begun around 1318. The Petroni Tomb (Fig. 5.19) would 111 -i I m ,..., > -i rrt o ;%:l :P r 5.17 (below) Adora tion o{ 'he Ma,'l,I , 1390s ( ?), Bartolo di Fredi. Tempera 5 .18 (abo ve) M" dv", ,,, and Child, 13 62, Niccolo di ser Sozzo a nd luca di on panel (Pmaco teca Naziona le, Siena ) Tomrne , Temp era ~ ) n d &old lea f a ll pa nel (Pinac oteca Nalion a lc. Siena ) originally have been partly painted. and arras such as the decorative borders ofthe cardinal's chasuble would have been filled with colored glass pastc. giving the monument greater impact. T he fro m face of the Petro ni Tomb carries three reliefs of biblical narrative, whose subject mat te r-crhe Noli MeTangere, th e Resurrection, an d the Incredulity OIS!, 71JOlIld S 5.19 Petroni To mb. 13 1S. commissio ned by Riccardo Petroni's heirs from all relate to the Resurrect ion and are thus ap propriate for a Tin o da Camaino for Siena Cathed ral. ,\-Iarble. height 5 1 "( 130 ern) fu nerary monurncnr, In their ma ssive and blocky f(, JrIl1s th e fig ures of the Petroni Tomb seem more like t hose of th e marble pulpit of the cathedral (sec Pig. 5.3) th an I he elon gatcd ;111<1 restle ss t"iglll'es decorating the cathed ral's facade, /\ ppro priatd y for the to mb ofa cardinal, rhe images o n the tomb and their a rrangement deri ve in part t ro ru papal and curial tombs, particularl y in de rails such as th e angds hold ing apart t he curtains that surround the figure of the dea d car dina l. USlllg a tomb type imitating Roman sources and most often seen in the pa pa l city , rhc Petroni To m b sug p:st.'; the inrcruational lan guage of the Church. while its 112 style refer s to an earlier dccorar ive prog ram in t he cathed ral. z a:::\J Arezzo: The Tarlati Tomb > In contrast to th e Petroni monument, no devour imagery l ado rn s th e Tarlat i To mb ill the Duorno of Arezzo LL a (c. 1329 -3 2; Fig. 5.20) by three Siencse scu lp tors, Agost ino > 5.21 Tarla n To mb. d eta il showing the COI1lUI1(~ ill Siz"ori~ . Marb le rel ief I- di Giovanni (active UIO-c. 1347), Agn olo d: Ventura (act U ive 1312 -49), and i\gost ino 's son. Giovann i cl't\gosrino < Z (c. 1311-c. 134 7). A grandiose mo nument glorifying th e L.lJ reign of the Tarlari family in Arezzo and in particular Bishop Guido Ta rlari who is bur ied in it, rhe comb Strains th e boun dar ies of propriety for personal commemoration . For o ne th ing, it is eno rmo us, filling one entire bay wall of th e cathed ral. The monume nt bea rs sixtee n na rrative relicts representing impo rta nt even ts in the history of the Tarla ri fami ly and of Arezzo under Guido Tarlari's ten ure as bis hop. In some of t he pa ne ls, such as the COlli/me ill Signoria (Fig. 5.21), where a priso ner at the right is about to be beheaded wh ile another, kne elin g, plead s his case before [h e seated judge, th e sculptors used com posirio na l devices comparable to th ose in Lorenzetti's later l\Ileg01)' o] Good Government (see Fig. 5.28) to indicate th e stability of Arczzo's goverruuc nr under the Tarlati. Guido Ta rlari's to m b was unique in the una bashedly secular character ofits decorat ion. Signi fica ntly, ir was nor im ira red . The Tarlati Tomb marks an early ap propriation by an individ ual (the comm issioner Pierro Saccone, th e bis ho p's brothel' and executor) of civic im ager y for use as propa gand a for o ne fam ily. TI H~ political inrenr of the tomb and its reliefs was nor lost on the citizens ofArezzo, who defaced the monumenr when the Tarlari were expe lled in 134 1. The Palazzo Pubblico As th e)' had done with th e lavish sculptural deco ration on rhe fat;ack of th eir cathedral a nd th e rich ly ornarne nted paintings within it, the Sienese chose visual sed uctio n when the}' buil t their city hall (Fig. 5.22). Unli ke the bru te stony strength of Florence's civic fort ress (sec p. 77 ), here brick walls gently bend to em brace the amphith eater-s haped Piazza del Campo wh ich it faces. Thin marble co lu m ns 5.20 1M I.•HI To rnb, Co 1.l29 32 . comrruvsion ed by GUido Tart an 's br o ther. Pietro Saccone . fron, Agostino di Giovanni. Agnolo di Ventura, and su pporting Gothic a rches decorate th e wind ows. An aston- . Giova nni d'Ago stino for Ar~ (/.o Cathedral. Marbl e ishin gly rail bell rower-clea rly surpa.ssing the height ofthe J civic rower of th eir rival city Florence-vexren ds from rhe lett Simone Martini's Maesta for the wing of the buil ding, domina ting other such structures Palazzo Pubblico which spiked the urba n land scap e. A later cha pel beneat h the [Ower extends o m into t he public s CJ ua re and indicates Tl'lt;' power of Duccio's Maesta and its symbolic value for the fusion of Ch u rch and state in th is city ded icated to th e t!le city is clearly evident in the tact that soo n atrcr It was Virgin. Th e expansion of th e Campo in fronr of the Palazzo finished the .8~~~rni n g body of ~ hL' N~:~l is s i o n e ( gives a measure of the import ance of rule extendi ng om Sim one Ma nini to paint a fresco of th e same sub~t (pig. from th e buil ding to the popu lation congrega ting befo re 5:2'4)101' the m ain meeting roo m of their newly c~m p l e tCd it. At the same time, this excraordiuary sloping shell-like c ! tY liatl(1"ig~':S-:-ZS ) . 51mane lIlc!udccfexaaly rh e sa mc smnts space-a natural concavity at the meet ing of Siena 's \VllO appear in Du ccio's great lvlaesta and arranged them in three hills-suggests that power flowed reciprocally fro m much the same order. T he imi tative nature of Simone's the citizenry to their representative gowrn l1le nt. The city work was determ ined by the needs of the program, which 113 gow rnm cnr carefully co ntrolled the form, legislating the undoubtedly called for cons istency in the depiction of th e .., I heighr and general style ofbuildings rhar co uld ring ir, The city's protectress. Here in th e city hall, as in the cathedral, m -.;; Campo hosted nor only meetings of the body po litic bur the image served a pro pagand istic purpose. The inscri pti on > r also public religious and sport ing events. Publ ic sermons at the base of th e throne of the Virgin in Simone's lvla£'sta, ;p N (set: Fig. 5.23 ) supported by the state manifested also rhe "The angelic lit tle flo wers, the roses and rhe lilies which No connections betwe en religion and pol itics, ca lling divine ad ~h~ lie aven ly odds do 110 l - del igh t me more th an -.;; C favor upon th e entire ur ban co mm uni ty. Events such as the righ teo us c~u nci l / ' is an ~~i'iCm"ror h e rul ers of the CIty 'JJ v:> Palio, the wild bare-backed horse race still run around tile ~wh o met in th is IQ.o nua-c=~ u:hci I:.Il&P- 0 n s ibi li ti es in3 _ r II Campo tod ay, were a way to entertain the populatio n while JU St and eguitable ng!l.!l£L. o channeling aggressio ns in a cro wded and po pulous space . Two rondcls painted in the center of the da do of rhe wall be neath the border, altho ngh badly damaged and repaint ed, co ntain im ages of the seal of the Capta in of the Peopl e, a rampant lion, and of t he Co mm unal Seal of the city of Siena with th e Virgin and Child flanked by candle -bearing an gels surrounded by a Latin ins cri ption which reads:"The Virgin protects Siena wh ich she has long marked for favor." Unl ike the Virgin in Du ccio's Maei"ta, Sim one's Virgin wears a crown, her queenly status appropriate in a room ded icat ed to the business of govern me nt. In his M.testJ Simone integrated some of the spati al rea lism and corpor eality of earlier painting in Florence, Rom e, and Naples into th e Sienese style. Simone's an gels and saints have more space between one an o th er and arc o rganized so tha r they create diagonal rows Cram from to back of the compos ition, thus em phasizing the deep slag e like spa ce formally co nstru cted by the baldacchino which covers the en tire group. Simone also str uctured the folds of the ma terial clo thing his fig ur es to make th em a ppe;lr fuller and mor e weigh ty than Duccio's sinuo us, decorative d raperies, though he foll ows Du ccio in including co mpli ca ted folds and pooling of fabric at the base of his fig ures.The elab or ate Gothic throne in which th e Virgin and the Christ Child arc placed also d iffers from Duc cio 's heavy marble throne, which recalls indigenous Tu scan architec ture. The th in windo w-like arches of Sim one's throne sug gest th e elaborate frames of co ntempo rary altarpieces and the Got hic architecture of Naples, with which Siena had long-standing political alliances. Simone, ill fact, moved to Naples shortly after co mpleting th is fresco. Lippa Memmi's Maesta for San Gimignano The success 5.22 Palazzo Pubblico. Siena . be gun 1298 . co mmiss ioned by the Sicnesc of Sim one's MaestJ is suggested by its repetition in the gOVt:'rn men t Palazzo Pubblico of San Girnignano, a sm all hill to wn CONTEMPORARY SCENE Art and Popular Piety Throughout th e history of o rga nized reli Campo, or field) which 'o rm s the very heart Bemardinos voice to distant members of gion, preachers of exrraordinary skill and of the city. The stone surfaces of the bu ild hiS audience, Just as they amplify sound charisma have from rime to time emerged ing s must have carried the sound of today, Bernardino holds an emblem of to capture the im.l ginat io n a nd a radiant sun surrounding the fervor of large audiences. The initials IHS, sign ifying Chnst Franciscan friar Sa n Bernardino one that he consistently used in of Siena (1380-1444), like St. his preaching , and wh ich was Francis and Sf. Peter Martyr copied in reduced amulet form before him (see Fig. 8.8), drew for h is devotees to carry a wa y as 114 large crowds who were captivat a rem in de r of his exhorrac ions to z ed by his pa ss ion ate ca lls fo r repentance. So persuasive were c repentance . In many insta nces Bernardinos arguments in sup gave a number ofsermons stand that he was canonized III 1450 ing in a temporary pulp it which by Pius II, another Siencse citi had been erected in front of len, At the fest ivu ies honoring the Palazzo Pubblico. In these the event, numerous paintings sermons he preached not only of the saint wert' cornrnis moral reform but also civic sioned, and a lifesized figun ~ peace. Sana di Pietro's painting of Bernardino ac companied by of one of these occasions (Fig . music-making a ngels was hoist 5.23) shows a rich curtain ed along the wall of the Palazzo draped across much of the lower Pubblico, from the ground to facade of the town hall, before a representation of Paradise a t which are seated the priors of the top of the bui lding, as if the Cit)'. Men and women kneel Bernardino were float ing into 'n devoted attention to t3er· Heaven where God the Father 5.23 5t, Bcmantino Pftwni"z in /1 ,1' Campo, 1445 -47. probably nardmos words-and were chas commissioned by th e Confrarernuy of th e Virgin (rom Sano di Pietro. waited to receive him. Th is tised bv the preacher when they Tem pera on panel. 63 :, x which was then a dependency of Siena. In 1317-18 adjusted the composition of Simoncs t-rl~ S("O to accommo Simone's sometime collaborator and later his brother-in date the diffcrcru; co mm issio n. He replaced the Sienese law, Lippo Mernmi (active 1317-(. 1350 Siena), was com patron saint s in the from row with Nella, kneeling in a missioned b)' Ncllo eli Mino Tolomci, then podestJ (chief donor pose, and wirh St. Nicholas (Nella's patron saint) magistrate) and Captain of the People ill San Gimignano, standing behind him. Sr. Girnignano, the patron saint of to paint a Maestd in the town hall there (Fig, 5.26). Lippo the city, stands at the left of the Virgin, and the coat ofarms 115 -i I m "'0 ~ r ~ N No "'C C ce (P r r'J o 5.24 (abo ve ) Macsta, c. 1 3 15 . rep a ired a nd repainte d in 1321 , commi ss io ned presumably by the govern ing body of t he Nine from Simone Martini for the Sala del Con siglio (Room of tile Council). Palazzo Pub blico, Siena, Fresco, 25 ' x 3 1' 9" (7.62 x 9.68 m) Darnago to the fresco ove r t irrl l ~ was ca used by the swrage of salt in bas em ent roo ms of the Palazeo Pubblico be nea t h the trt:sco . Moisture carried the sa lt lip thr(lugh the in ne r wa ll, of the blJilding and ca used crysta ls to form beneath the surface o ft he p aint, These pushed the pigme nt forward and dama ged the structu ra l inte grity of the pla ster. The Christ C hild hol ds a n act ua l parch ment scroll th a t has been ad hered to the su rface of the f,,·sco: it rea d s:" Love Justice you who judge the earth." 5.25 View of th e Sala del Consiglio (Ro om o r th e Co un cil). Pa lazzo Pubblico, Siena . 116 Z o cr: ;; u.J t aL: > t- V « z w Vl 5.26 M'1e5Ici, 1317-18, co m m issio ned by Nella di Millo Tolornci from Lippa Memmi for th e Pal.1/..l0 Pubhlico, S,lI' Girnignano . Fresco The pa ired figu re, (0 th e left and the right were added by B", w lo di Fred, when t he fresco wa s enlarged on 1367. The fresco was repai red alon g t he lower edge in the 1460, by Beno zzo Gozzoli, who ma;, have rcparnted the head , of rh e two figure' ro ehe far nghT. of the Tolomei fam ily appears in the baldaccbino above . If The Sala della Pace: "Good Government" nothing else this rather pedestrian painting indicates how powerful the language of civic imagery was. By placing the On e of the most elaborate decorative programs for the copy of Simone's Maes:« in the town hall ofSan Gimignano, Palazzo Pubblico of Siena was commissioned from Nelle made very clea r Siena's political control over the small Ambrogio Lorenzetti for the room adjacent to the Sala del town and his power as legate in enforcing that control. Consiglio in 1338. This was the meeting room of the Nine: the Sala dei Nove or the Sala della Pace (Room ofPeace). The Secular Imagery in the Sala del Consiglio membership of rill' Nine, who led th e Sicn ese government from 1287 to 1355 , changed every two mont hs, always Accompanying Simone's Maest« in the Sala del Consiglio drawn from th e Sienese ar istocracy, despite rep eat ed in the Palazzo Pubblico were a number of secular images. attempts to widen the sources ofrepresentation . Legislation Frescoes commemorated barrles and imporranr mil itary of 1318 made rhein responsible for "the ordering and captains, and a huge rotating map by Ambrogio Loren zetti reformation of rhe whole city and contado ('countryside') (now destroyed) set Sienese events in a world context. One of Siena." For the Sala della Pace Loren zetti designed an of the best surviving examples of th is reportorial art was allegori cal fresco cycle underscoring the benefits of good commissioned from the painter and miniaturist Lippa govern ment an d the dangers of bad gov ernment. Vanni (active 1341 - 75 Siena) to record th e Sienesc victory The cycle consists of three frescoes: the Allegory ofGood in the Val di Chiana over English mercenaries in 1363 Government, the E.fJeet> ofGood Government in the City and in the (Fig. 5.27 and see Fig. 5.25). His monochromatic fresco, like COlmtIY , and Bad GO{.'('l7lmellt and the Effiet,ofn'ld G(wcmment man y such civic images painted exclusively ill central Italian in the Cit». The AllegolJ ofGood Government (Fig. 5.28) occu town halls, records the progress of the battle and the dispo pies one shorr wall of the room and is the central image in sition of the troops episodically across the wall; it is a it. A complicated and fragmented work, it lack s a single graphic chronicle of the event rather than a naturalistic compositional focus and thus must be read episodically. reconstruction, with cities carefully labeled and the armies The largest image on the wall , and therefore, according to identified by the he raldic flags of their leaders. Here again, the hierarchies of the period. the most important, is the function derermined style. seated male flgun: on the right. who is clothed in the 117 .., I rn "'0 :t> r :t> N No "'0 C OJ OJ r r. o 5.27 V,rtory o( lhe Sienesc Troop, at the Val di C/';,I(W If' 1363 . c. 13 64 (?). Lippa Vanni, Sala d el Co nsiglio ( Room o ft he Co unc il). Pala zzo I'ubblico. Sie na . Fresco 5.28 Allegory of Good Covem ment , 13 38 -·10. co m m issio ned by the go vern ing bo dy of I he Nine from Ambrogio Lorenzetti for til l' S,,1a della Pace (a lso known ,j , the Roo m o f t he Nin e), Pa lazzo Pu bblico, Siena . Fresco . lengt h c. 25 ' 3" (7 .7 on) The te xt in the lower ba rd." of the fresco read s: "Th is holy Virtu" [o f'j usucc ] where she rules. ind uces to unity , h,' Ill;lny ,0,,1, I" f the cirizcns ]. and the y, ga thered togelher fo r suc h a purpose, ma ke the Com mon Good their Lord ; an d he, in order to govern his sta te, chooses never 10 turn Ills "yes fr'OIl1 the r",pleoderll faces ofthe Virtues who , it aro und him, Th erefo re to him in tr iumph arc offered taxe s, trib utes an d lordship of tow ns: th" 'd",,,, without war , every Civic res ult duly folloW!> useful. necessa ry, and pleasurabl e,"(Tra ns. Diana Norman) 118 z o r:t. s w I f ol.l. > f- U -c Z UJ Vl 5.29 EfTects of Cood Government ill the City and ill the Country, wa ll to th e right o f th e Allegory o{Good GO"unm el1l, Sala de lla Pace (Room orth e inc). Palazzo Pub blico . Siena, detail. Fresco . length c. 46 ' ( 14 rn } $ (0' u rit a -, (Sec lIrilr ), fl)'ing in t he arr a t tfl" c it)' gatt· holding a gibbet with a mall hanging from it , also holds. a scroll thn t reads: "Wi th o u t fear every ma rl m ay travel freel)1 and each mOl}' till a nd sow. ' 0 long as this commune shall main ta in this lady [Justice] sovereign. for she has stripped th e wicked of all power " (Tram. Diana Norman ) heraldic black and white colors ofSiena an d iden tified with inscriptio n over th e heads of the crimina ls repears th at of gold lette ring, halo -like around his head, as "CSCV," or th e communal seal de picted JI1 the border of Simo ne's "Comune Senartan Civitas \lir: -l :!: rn 'l l> I" l> N N o -0 C c;;:> c;;:> r (j o Lorenzetti's sryle de monstr ates how well he had man th rou gh it, while outside the walls peasanrs tend the crops aged to integrate so me of the stylistic principles of Giorto and wealthy citi zens ride through th e count ryside. Ir is into his own work-not surprisingly, as he had work ed in a fascinating panorama of the lat e-med ieval city-state at Florence from 1321 to 1327 and again fro m 1332 to 1334. work, a purdy secular painting, with no indi cation of rhe Figures are naturalistically rendered (especially the citi zen s religiou s rituals rhar punctuated citi zens' lives. and soldiers) and fully modeled, their volumet ric solidity On th e wall oppos ite th e qreC!." orGood Government and enhanced by the depth of the ben ches on which rhey sir or to th e lefr of the Buon COli/line Ambrogio painted an oth er b~ ' th eir three-quarter poses. Yet this Fresco also contains fresco called Bad GOI'emmeIU and the EjJl:ets oIBad Gorcrnmcnt non-naturalistic clem ents, such as the lise ofchanging scale in tbc Cit)' (Fig. 5.30 ), which uses the same forms and to sugg esr rhe relati ve import ance of d ifferent peopl e. In comp osition al devices as t he other frescoes in th e room. L1C"t the fresco as a whole is non-narrative and th e individ bur invert s them . T he ma levolent-looking figure represent ual allegorical figures arc conventiona l, just as allegory is all ing Bad Govern ment. poin tedly labeled as Tyranny, is artificial. convencional, and form al literary device. It is only enthron ed like the Buon COlli/me an d stares hierancally our in rhe lowest tier of the fresco. where the quasi-h istorical ar the observer. Neither male nor femal e, it is fanged, cross figures of the citizens o r Siena appear, rhar rhe fresco eyed, and porcine. dearly bloated with corruption. In place ut ilizes completely naruralisric stylistic conven tions. of rhe cardi nal virtues, personifications of Avarice, Pride, To provide visible pro of of the efficacy of th e absrracr and Vainglory Ay over its head . Tyra nny is Clanked by clear concepts of th e BIIIJII Comun e fresco, Ambrog io painted a ly labeled scared figures represen ting Crue lty, Treason, and long two-part fresco of rh e £.01:(1; oI Good G OIJt:11W/t' /l t in Fraud at the lefr and Frenzy, Divisiveness. and War at the tbc City and in the CamIlly on the ad jacent long wall to th e right. t\ bo und figure represenringlus ricc lies at its feet. The right (Fig. 5.29). This is a busy scene ofeveryday ur ban an d cirv to its left is falling int o rui n, robbers roam the srreers, ru ral life, crammed with an extraordinary richness of derail: and , in the foreground. a group of ruffian s drags a wom an masons and carpenters co nstruct bu ilding s, cob blers make by her hair. Even in its now ruinous condmon the image shoes, a teacher instructs his class. visitors to th e city stroll conveys a dire warn ing. 120 Z '.J tt: > uJ I f u, o > f- U < Z ur Vl 5.30 Bad Government and the Effect5of Bad Government //I thc Cdr, wall to the I" ft of the Allegory of Ccod Covemme"r, Sala d ella Pace ( Roo m oft he Nin e ). Pala zzo Pubb lico . Sie na, detail. Fresco TIH."rc is reason 1.0 believe [hat [he inscript io ns alo ng the bott om borde r of each fresco an: moder n rest orat ions, although they rna}' rep rod uce origmal texts. Timor (Fear) III the " Pf,,,r left co rne r. f.l(tng Secun tv across the room . hold s a scro ll that reads: " Beca use each seeks o nly lus own ~ood, in th is cityJu stic e" subjected to Tyranny; wherefo re, alon g th is roa d nob od y passes without fearing for his life, since t here are rob be ries ou tside and inside t he city gates.'" In the border a text reads: "Th ere. where Justice I ~ bo und. no one I S ever on acco rd with the Common Good, nor pulls th e cor d stra ight; therefore it is fitt ing th at Tyra nny prevails. She, in or de r to c'rry o ut her iniquity. neither wills nor act s in disacco rd [sic ] with the f,lthy nature of the Vices. who are show n here conjoined wit h her. She bani shes those who are ready to do good and calls around herself every evil schemer. She always protects th e assailant, the ro bbe r. and tho se who hate peac e. so ' ha t her ew ry land lies wa sted." (Tra ns, Diana Norm an) In Slim, th e imagery rhar rhe Sicne sc created for rheir of rheir city only in 1404 with a coa lition republican gov cathedral and town hall was oprimisric and celebratory. erru nen r led by ten Prio rs, which brought so me order ro Jt rau ghr lessons, confirm ed religiou s and civic fairh , and poliricallife In the city for rhe remainder of rhe cenr lll"y- exhorted individ uals to do their best to meet high commu nal standa rds. Increasingly naturalistic and visually beguil Painting in the Palazzo Pubblico ing. ir served as both an ornarne nr to and an instrument of Church an d stare. Restoration of the republic afrer 1404 enabled th e Priors to turn towa rd an extens ive embellishmen t of rhe Palaz zo Siena's Political System Pubblico. This work amounted to a reaffirmation of civic ideal s, drawing on earli er traditions depicted within the and Civic Art Palazzo Pubblico and at the same rime adding new human ist overtones to th e Sicnese stylistic repertoire. Among th e The system of govern ment in Siena chan ged significantly first of the com missions for t he building was the redecora and rcpearedly during th e last half of th e fourreenrh tion of th e chapel holdi ng a M tU.'sfti fro m 1302 by Du e-cia centmy. The Nine were driven from power in 1355 to be fol and locare d nexr ro the roo m in wh ich Simone Martini had lowed by a troubled period of coalition under rhe Dodi ci paint ed his Macsta (sec Fig. 5.24). In 1406-07 Taddeo di (the "Twelve"), merchants \vho were assis ted in their roles as Bartolo (1362/ 63 Siena - 1422 Siena), perhaps a student of governors by twelve nobles. A reform govern ment led by rhe Bartolo di Fred i (sec Fig. 5. l7), decorated its walls with fres popolo minute or "little people" to ok over in 1368, bur itself coes of scenes fro m the life of th e Virgin, the city's patron fell from power in 1386, leading ro a perio d of insrabiliry saint (Fig. 5.31 ). Taddeo's fresco shows apostles an d a large that made ircasy for Giangaleazzo Visconti ofMilan to rake crowd of mourners accompanying the body of th e Virgin control of the city in 1399. The Sienese regained contro l outside the ciry walls for bu rial. For rhc mosr part Taddeo intended to remind the current incum bent of a Sicncse citizen who had been pope and who had even brought the fl'arsome lsarbarossa to his knees. They fit (he need s ofa civic site by honoring one of its fam ou s citizcns, and th ey mav also serve cont,'mporary history by suggesting a compari son between Alexander's alliance with the Lomb ards and the Priors' Milan ese alliance with the Visconti, The frescoes' Florentine sense of spaciousness, th eir massive, solid figures, and naturalis 121 tic deta ils indicate th at historical narrative 00 m de ma nded a dramatic and naturalistic Z style. ::: III In 1413- I-'I th e Priors :tgain turned to -0 o Taddeo di Bart olo to paint a cycle of paint r -i ings for the anrcchapel of the Palazzo n > Pubblico, a space th at functioned as an r oo important passage between other room s -c 00 of the palace . The Prio rs thought this -i m space imporranr enough ro ass ign Pietro s: > de ' Pecci, a lawyer and teacher in Siena, z and Cr isroforo di Andrea, the city's o n < n 5.31 The Funeralo(the Virgin. 1406-7 , com mission ed by the > Priors from Taddeo di Bartolo for th eir chapel. Palazzo ;;0..., Pubblico, Siena. Fresco, ' 0' 6" x t t' 4 " (3.2 X 3.45 m) employs earlier convention s of spatial organiza tion and fig ural composition. The way Taddeo truncates th e faces ofthe apos tles behind rile bier indicates rhar he is so metimes interested in naru ralisric observation. Yet non e of rhe apostles seems to be actually bearing the weigh t of the bier. their wiry outline an d sharp, angu lar pos es arc stoc k featu res in Taddeo's work. Along with the stylized or blank backgrou nds in the frescoes these featu res would have given the decorative program of the city hall a stylistic consistency spannmg over a cen tury. In 1407 the Priors commissioned Spinello Aretina (Sp inello di Luca Spinelli ; 1350/ 52 Arczzo - J-t lO Florence), assisted perhaps by his son, Parri Spinelli (I3H7 Arena- 1453 Arezzo) to paint the walls of th eir meeting room, the Sala dei Priori (Fig. 5.32). The subject matter of th e two-ti ered frescoes , wh ich cove l" all fou r walls of the room. co ncer ns the Sicnesc pope Alexander 1lI Bandinelli (r. I 159-81 ). Supposedly this subj ect was chosen as the result of a visit of Pope Gregory XII to Siena, the frescoes being 5.3 2 Scenes (rom the LiteQrAlexander III, 14 0 7, co mmission ed by the Priors from Spinello Aretino for th e Sala d e; Priori, Palazzo Pubblico , Siena. Fresco chancellor, as ad visors to Taddeo in determinin g [he fresco Enhancements to the Campo program. OIl one wall Taddeo painrcd allegories ofjustice and Magnanimirv un der the [ WO arches: beneath each Nl~W civic commissions ext ended out inro th e Cam po in he placed a figure fro m Roman histo ry cxc l11 plij)·ing rhe from of the Palazzo Pubblico. In December 1408 the Sicncse co ncept (Fig. 5.33). Each group of Roman heroes is labeled sculptorj acopo d ella Quercia ( U71/ 75? Siena- 1438 Sien a) with an inscr iption in Lati n, and each figu re bears a further was commissioned co design ami ca rve the rel iefs for a large Latin inscription below h is feet. The inscriprions hcrwern public fountain , now kn own ;1S rhe Fon te Gaia ("Happy M. Curius Dcnrarus and F. Furius Camillus claim them Fountain ") (Fig. 5.34). The design for t he f Z [amos i. The soldiers' elaborate costu mes follow ch ivalric th e project until 141 4, shortly after he had to leave a project IJ pai nt erly rradi rio ns rather than his to rical accuracy. The one in Lucca because ofaccu sations aga in st him and h is assis a:: > inscription in lralian in th is roo m which mi ght have been tam. Giovanni cia Irnola, of theft. adultery, and sodomy. w readable by Siena's counsel ors is placed between rhe [WD T he project draggl'd on until 1419. to rh e exaspernrion of u, groups of heroes and urges them co look to th e example of the co m missione rs. o Rome, ro 'seek for th e common good and to ernularc the Even in Irs now-ruined state the Fonte Gaia co nveys so me > \... examp les ofjust counsel. Given Siena's recent hisrory, ir is of rhe splen dor wh ich it origi nallr added ro [h e Ce nter of v significalH rliar [h e central me ssa ge of th e inscription is a Siena and u nderscores [he civic im ager y imporrant for such < Z plea for \I11 it~" It is also sign ifica nr th at [h e Prio rs cornm is a site. A central relief of the Virg in an d Child recall s the l.U sioned a Sicncse artist whose style places the imagery well city's d edication ro Mary and th e imagt' ry o f most of irs wit h in formal conven tio ns ofSicncse pa inting. civic commissions. She is nanked to the left an d right by 5,33 jusuce with C,cem, M. Porau: C~r o, and fl. Scipio Nosic« and "0agni/" i",i ly will, Curius Dentatus. Fvrius em,ill"s. and Scipio A(ricd"us, 1413- 14, commissio ned by (he Pnors from Taddeo di Bartolo for the anrechap el. Palazzo Pubbh co, Siena. f resco. each lunette 8' 10%" x 10' 6" (2.7 x 3.2 m) 123 V'. m Z ~ '" o" r -I n J> r V'> -< V'> 5.34 Fonte eli"', 1408-19, commission ed by the Priors from Jacopo della Qu ercia for the Piaz za de l Cam po. Sien a . Marble , r ent er s pall 33 ' 4 " w rde -I m (10 15 x 5.55m ) (O speda le de lla Sca la , Siena) s: The fountain wa s removed in 1858 an d replaced by a modified replir-a ",..de between 11;5 8 a nd 18 68 by Tiro Sam cchi. J> Z o n < niches conra .i ning tigures of virtues, much as Lorenzetti's n > Btum Comunc (see Fig. 5.28) is flanked by allegorical per.~orl ;v ificarions. Altho ugh the o riginal plan ca lled for llgu rl:s -I of Gabriel an d the Virg in Annunciate facing one a nother at the ends of the wing s, a revision o rdered in 141 5 subsri rurcd reliefs of the Creation ofAdam and dole Expulsion [rom flalildisc (rig. 5.3 5). The Expulsion adds an import a nt focu s on Justice to the fou ntain, again echo ing th e rhc me of the GoodGOVCI71ment fresco in the Palazzo Pub blico, Quercia had most likely looked carefu lly at work in Flo rence, where he had com peted for the second set of the Baptistr y's bronze doors, bur local references are equa lly im port aru , coo. Th e rounded , soft fo rms of Querela's bodies refer to Etruscan rcrraco tta sculpt ure most likely already availab le from looted local to mb sites, and the heavy, decorative drape r)' of th e Virtues echoes the reliefs of th e Libe ral Arts Iormcrl y decorat ing th e base of th e Cappella di Piazza immed iat ely across the Ca m po from the Fonte Gaia. For a civic commission suc h references [0 indigenous history would naturally have been appro priate. Pardy because of Quercia's ability to assimilate such divergent sty list ic com ponents into his work, his po sicion in the histo ry of art has been somewha t ma rginalized, despite the power of his sculpture and the o bviously high reputat ion th at he enjoyed in his own time . 5.35 Expu lSIon oiAdom and Eve from Paradise. detail of the Fonte Gaia (O spedale de lla Scala. Siena)