Siena
On the 9th of
November we visited Siena.
The Palazzo Publico is
situated in the Piazza del Campo: a shell shaped Piazza with 9 fragments. These
fragments represent each of the 9 contrade (districts) of Siena that were
present during its contruction in 1297. Its original purpose was to seat the
house of 9, the mayor and the house of justice. It is built on a hill with a 30
metre decline from the north side to the south side of the palace and thus the
ground is acknowledged to be insecure. Therefore the bottom of the building is
made in stone, while the upper part is far lighter and built with bricks to keep the delicate ground underneath
from collapsing. Opposite the Palazzo is the fountain that is used to water the
horses during the biannual horse race held there.
It was paid for by one
of the two major parties at the time: the Guelphs. They supported the Papacy
unlike the other party, the Ghibellines, who supported the merchants. We know
this because of the flat dentals (tourettes that look like teeth - pictured above)
used on the building. The Guelphs were known to build flat ones whilst rounded
dentals are attributed to the Ghibellines.
The right side of the
palace (with the tower) is where the seat of the Mayor is, the middle is used
for the government (originally the House of 9) and to the right is where the
seat of justice is located. The tower, ‘Torre del Mangia’ is the latest
addition built in 1338-48. The name means ‘Tower of the Eater’ and derives from
the character of its first Guardian - Giovanni di Balduccio. Infamously known for ‘eating’ all of that he
earned!
Inside you can find the
Fresco by Simone Martini in the Sala del Mappamondo (the World Map Room). It is
slightly damaged due to water infiltration from the lodger located above, the
salt content of the wall and the humidity from below. There is also evidence of
the blue background peeling off but this is because the Lapis Lazuli (blue
pigment) was applied in secco and therefore is likely to peel. It was completed
in 1315 and had to be restored only 6 years later because of the problems
mentioned beforehand. The room in which
it is located is called as it is because opposite the Maesta used to be a large
rotating map of the world. The ability to rotate it has resulted in circular
marks left behind on the wall.
The following room has a
panoramic fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti depicting the ‘Good and Bad Government‘. It shows
the strife caused by the previous ‘bad government’ then evolves into a
harmonious depiction of the Sienese countryside under the new ‘Good
Government’.
Siena’s cathedral was completed in the 13th
century and was rebuilt on an earlier site. There were plans to extend it
ambitiously. However, the Black Death in the 1340’s meant that the work had to
be put on hold. Once the Plague had passed on, the Sienese realised that there
were fatal errors in what had already been built and that the insecure ground
(as mentioned earlier) would not be able to support the structure. Therefore,
work was never resumed and all that can be seen now are the outer walls of what
was to become the new nave (See Left), to the right of the front façade.
The main Façade of the
Cathedral took nearly 100 years to complete. It is said to have been created in
two stages - the first stage of its construction was completed up to the Lunettes and the second was from the Lunettes upwards. The
first stage began in the 1280’s and stopped abruptly in 1317. The majority of
the work done was completed according to Giovanni Pisano’s (Nicola’s son)
plans. The second stage was not completed until the least 1360-70’s and was
fairly in keeping with Pisano’s plans. However, the new architect Giovanni di
Cecco had to modify Pisano’s plans somewhat in order to accommodate for the
OPA’s desire for the façade to be raised.
Therefore, the Cathedral
is a combination of Sienese Romanesque (that looked towards Classical
Antiguity) and the French Gothic style (Di Cecco’s influence). For example, the
columns at either side begin in the traditional Romanesque style only to
transform into Pinnacles as they reach the height of the façade, a typical feature in Gothic architecture. Another thing
to note are the black and white stripes not only seen on/inside of the Cathedral
but throughout Siena too, they are the official colours of Siena.
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