Do you remember the crayon color “burnt siena”?  It comes from the color of the clay in Siena used for many of the buildings.  (Enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.)

Palazzo Pubblico

In the 13th and early 14th c. Siena was the rival of the other great Medieval Italian cities—Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Genoa.  In the later Renaissance, it was eclipsed by Florence militarily, financially, and culturally, but it was once Florence’s equal in every area, and the cathedral they began would have been the largest in the Christian world.  Like Florence, Siena (an hour away) has a Renaissance skyline with architecture, art, and museums, a car free center (the first in Italy), and lively restaurants and shops—though not nearly as many of these.  Unlike Florence, Siena is today small and architecturally almost frozen in time, the mid-14th c.; so it has a somewhat Gothic texture rather than a purely Renaissance one.

The central plaza (Campo), pictured above, is larger than Florence’s and is the city’s true center, unlike the several competing, smaller piazzas of Florence.   Siena is a city of 60,000; Florence half a million and much more in the metro area.  Siena is like a very large village in a way.  People sit on the rise of Siena’s piazza or in cafes around the edge.

Narrow Streets Lead to the Palazzo

The major building is the city hall (Palazzo Pubblico) with its tall, slender campanile, higher probably than any in Italy.  I would never dream of climbing the narrow steps of that tower even for the excellence of the view, not because I’m unfit but because claustrophobia and acrophobia would make me (and I think most people) uneasy. The cathedral is around the corner, with its baptistery tucked in the back to hold it up it.  The city is hilly, and large buildings were not easy to construct.  Everything was and still is in easy walking distance.  The cathedral was to have been even larger.  Some of the walls and windows of the unfinished nave stand today, and you can see the outline of the original plan.

The Nave

What is there now, without the unfinished nave, is basically the transepts which then became the cathedral, but one would not think it “unfinished” or even small.  Work stopped—the bubonic plague in 1348 hit the city hard, killing half the population.  Some at the time said the new cathedral was a prideful affront to God.  But there were construction problems too.  Later, war with Florence ended any hope of independence, power or great wealth.  The unfinished nave is there to see, mostly as a parking lot now, and from the top of it—what would have been the top of the nave–and not a scary climb are great views of the city.  (For pictures of this church, and others across Europe, a great website is Paradoxplace.)

I’m standing on the top of the unfinished part of the cathedral to take this picture

This cathedral façade is more impressive to me than that of any in Florence; it’s more lavish and fascinating.    In the cathedral, as well as the baptistery, the cathedral’s own Museo dell’Opera, and city hall are works by Donatello, Michelangelo, Ghiberti, Duccio, Pisano—the greats of the Renaissance.  Each building of significance in Siena seems smaller than counterparts in Florence but each also seem more packed with art, except for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Cathedral West Front Facade

The cathedral library has beautiful Medieval illuminated manuscripts.  The frescoes on the walls and ceiling, stunningly beautiful, are said to be the plan, though not the execution, of Raphael.  A statue (“The Three Graces,” a Roman copy of a Greek original) stands in the center of the room, but, as with other Italian rooms it’s the lavish art on the walls and ceilings that ultimately command your attention.  You do need to click on this one.

The Library, designed by Raphael

Manuscripts–most are notated chants

In the city hall, in the room where the merchant governors met, are Lorenzetti’s three huge frescoes, collectively called the “Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government.” The frescoes depict the difference between good and bad government in the city, in the country, and among all levels of society.  Illustrating the effects of good government are a thriving, colorful Tuscan city with trading in the market place, the construction of new buildings, and happy peasants, artisans, merchants, and aristocrats going about their lives.  A few people dance to the sound of a tambourine.  Outside the city walls, land is cultivated and farmers and animals work.  At the top, and above the good ruler, are figures of faith, hope, and charity and others representing Justice and Concord.  The fresco illustrating the effects of bad government has been badly damaged over time; here, though, there’s a crumbling city, crime in the streets and robbery in the countryside, and general poverty.  Figures of avarice, vanity and greed surmount the evil ruler at the top of this fresco.

These paintings are more medieval in execution than Renaissance, but the message is humanism.  The allegory works and the symbolism is clear:  on one level we are taught that good government and order results in the welfare of all people everywhere, while bad government anywhere results in the opposite.  It is surely a lesson worth making attractive.  The literal level is the depiction of a particular city that viewers would see as Siena itself.  The people are clearly drawn, so are the animals and the buildings look real buildings.  Things are happening; people are living their lives; and the commonwealth thrives.  The characters and setting are idealized and generic, but you feel you could actually go to this place and see these people doing these particular activities. (The last two pictures, below, are from the web and not copyrighted–they are strict about no photography in the library.)

Good Government in the City (detail)

The “Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government” must have affected all who saw it when it was installed and all who came afterwards to this central hall of government.  They would have been inspired to create and to maintain the welfare of all segments of society and to resist the evil that results from selfish lack of concern for others—all of which they saw in the frescoes.   The inspiration for the paintings may have come from Thomas Aquinas and from Aristotle before whose ideas were then translated by the Sienese into something visually interesting and powerful.   As straight-forward as these frescoes are, it takes time to admire them, and I realize my gazing at the sculpture, architecture, and paintings of Italy has been, of necessity, pretty superficial.  And I wonder what the effect of seeing the Lorenzetti frescoes would have been on those who came to the city hall of Siena regularly and over the years.  Would they have gathered something in, something ennobling?  Would they have become inured over time?

Two of the 3 panels, in situ