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Siena: City Ofthe Virgin

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Siena: City Ofthe Virgin 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 V\ 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 • • 7 ., • • • . .. -. '?,?:{;;~~{{~?~~~,,;~ ~.;({~. ~ . ~ \ o ~y d s r ---, o 30m 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.
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