|
MONDAY 3rd October 2005
SIENNA
Sienna was founded by the Etruscans, becoming an independent republic, and in the thirteen and fourteenth centuries was one of the major cities of Europe. The height of Sienna’s power was around 1260 when it defeated the Florentine army. Sienna’s merchants then embarked on the great urban development of the Duomo and the Campo with its Palazzo Publico. Siennese bankers at this time spread their operations throughout Europe, and with Duccio, Martini and the Lorenzettis, the city was at the forefront of Italian art.
The city never fully recovered from the plague, which hit in May 1348, and suffered further decline following a siege by Charles V in 1554-55 when the population fell from 40000 to 8000. Sienna’s rapid decline to little more than a market centre explains the wealth of medieval preservation.
The Duomo was complete to virtually its present size around 1215, and the style is a conglomoration of Romanesqe and Gothic, delineated by bands of black and white marble. The lower part of the “facade” was designed by the Pisan sculpter Giovanni Pisano, who from 1284 to 1296 created from his workshop much of the statuary for the Duomo.
Within the Duomo, the “Libreria Piccolomini” houses the books of “Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini - the Pope Pius II. The library ceiling is magnificent, the Duomo’s choirbooks, illuminated by Sano di Pietro and other Sienese Gothics, are displayed here.
A Roman statue of the “Three Graces”, supposedly copied from a lost Greek work by Praxiteles, is in the centre of the Library.
The black and white marble banding is shown in the interior shots of the nave and the dome. The pulpit, stated to be the Duomo’s greatest individual artistic treasure, is by Nicola Pisano and was completed in 1268 with help from his son Giovanni, and Arnolfi di Cambio.
The Duomo’s great marble pavement inside the Duomo consists of 56 figurative panels. They were completed between 1349 and 1547, with virtually every artist who worked in the city trying his hand on a design. Three details are shown: 1, 2 and 3.
Moving on from the Duomo, seeing an heraldic motif is a reminder that Sienna’s Palio is a contest between the 17 Contrada or districts of Sienna. Riders and horses race for three laps around the Campo; space restrictions only allow 10 of the Contrada to enter the race, and they are selected by lottery.
The “Piazza Salimbeni” is the heart of business Sienna. The buildings shown have since the 15th century been the head office of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which now having merged with other Tuscan and Umbrian banks, is one of the key financial institutions in Italy. The building on the right is the “Spannochi” (which has roof level heads), which was the first great Renaissance palace built in Sienna (1473) and the prototype for the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, while the “Salimbeni” in the centre, was a last flourish of Gothicism. The statue is the italian economist and statesman Sallustio Bandini.
The “Campo” and “Palazzo Publico” are the centre of Sienna.
SAN GIMIGNANO
Famous for its tall medieval towers giving a picture of how Tuscan towns would have looked in the early middle ages. At that time San Gimignano prospered on agriculteral holdings and its position on the pilgrim route to Rome.
As is usual at that time feuds had long wreaked havoc, in this case between the Ardinghelli and Salvucci families, and even when the town was united there were wars with Volterra, Poggibonsi and other nearby towns. The Black Death of 1348 had a devastating effect on the population and on the pilgrim trade. Subjection to Florence broke the power of the nobles and so San Gimignano was unaffected by the struggles between aristocracy and town council, and with the tower houses no longer symbols of power within the town they posed little threat and were not torn down. The town was again hit by the plague in 1464 and 1631, becoming a rural backwater and frozen in time.
The “Via San Giovanni” leads to the town’s main squares. Pictures show a palace with adjoining tower, twin towers and one with the late sun on it.
If you dare take one home, buy it here.
|
