Siena artistic itineraries
- A route from Piazza del Campo to the church of St. Augustine
- Route B from Piazza del Duomo to the church of San Domenico
- Route C from Piazza San Francesco to the church of Santa Maria dei Servi
A route from Piazza del Campo to the church of St. Augustine
Piazza del Campo
This route starts in one of the most scenic and picturesque squares in Italy, as well as a symbol of the city of Siena. Its shaped shell, depended from the need to allow the defluvio rainwater makes this place a real theater, enhanced by exceptional works of art, as the buildings that surround it. Originally used for fairs and markets, the camp was conceived as the seat of city government with the ascent to power of the Nine, in memory of which the brick pavement and ranges from nine strips of travertine arranged radially.
In order to give the greatest possible harmony sought to square the stylistic coherence of the buildings that face indicating what criteria to be respect.
In the highest part of the square there is the wonderful Source Gaia. Built between 1409 and 1419 by the great Sienese sculptor Jacopo della Quercia, the fountain is shaped like a large marble basin whose sides meet the slope of the square (the original work has been replaced with a copy nineteenth and transferred nell'Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala).
At the base of the shell rises majestically and the Palazzo Pubblico elegant, almost the backdrop to its cavea. Currently home of the Museum come to visit him.
Palazzo Pubblico
Remarkable example of Siena calendar, the palace is an outstanding expression of the Gothic vocabulary that during the Middle Ages in Siena is one of the greatest Italian spread. Visiting its rooms is possible to cover the most significant moments of the past the glorious town of Siena. Among the most beautiful halls are to be mentioned that of the World Map that retains some famous frescoes by Simone Martini and the Peace of Nine, former seat of city government, where you can admire the paintings by Ambrogio Lorenzetti depicting the Allegory of Good and Bad Government, profane fourteenth round of the ethical and political modernity that continues to this day, a surprise.
of the Mangia Tower, one of the ancient towers highest Italian, whose name derives from the nickname of "mangiaguadagni" since its first keeper Giovanni di Duccio. From its summit, overlooking the city and gaze lose to the rooftops of Siena and the surrounding countryside to see the horizon the tall peak of Mount Amiata.
Just emerged from Piazza del Campo, in the city we see charming Loggia Mercanzia, four niches in which are placed the statues of the ancient patron saints of Siena. We fully this road, one of the most elegant of the city, lined with elegant buildings and residences as Palazzo Chigi Saracini, current seat of the 'Accademia Musicale Chigiana And building Papesse, one of the few buildings in Renaissance Siena. Now home of the Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea This building houses continually exhibitions, conferences and seminars on current trends in art.
Taking arrive via San Pietro before the Pinacoteca Nazionale.
National Art Gallery
Passing through the halls of the museum traces the major stages of the figurative culture of Siena from the twelfth to the eighteenth century, through the masterpieces of its greatest masters: Buoninsegna of Duccio, Simone Martini, the Lorenzetti, Sodoma, Beccafumi, just to name a few.
Continuing along Via San Pietro it ends in St. Augustine lawn, on which stands the church.
Church of St. Augustine
The construction of the church and convent of Annexe was begun in the second half of the thirteenth century on for over fifty years. Among the various works of art that you can see are made Sibille highlighted two frescoes by Luca Signorelli, the Crucifixion of the Perugino el 'Piccolomini altar in polychrome marble, which contains a painting of Sodom.Route B from Piazza del Duomo to the church of San Domenico
Piazza del Duomo
Duomo
Dedicated to St Mary of the Assumption, the cathedral today is the result of work carried out in the thirteenth century that took part in Nicola Pisano and his son John. While John worked at the front, Nicola created the pulpit, completed in 1268. In the first half of the fourteenth century, at the height of prosperity, Senesi conceived the idea of a new building that should have been made to extend the existing framework, but the deadly rain of 1348 (the year in which raging fever) behaved an abrupt cessation of work. A witness behind the project remain the magnification of the nave walls and the right side of the facade, the so-called "Facciatone".
If you are entering, attracted by the grandeur of the building, the most beautiful artistic preserved here, do not forget to lower their gaze and admire the floor done, mostly on drawings Beccafumi, committed a marble design makes it unique in the history of art. It is also worth noting the presence of the Cappella del Voto, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the above-mentioned pulpit by Giovanni Pisano.
Before we pass out of the Duomo the Piccolomini Library. This small jewel of humanism fifteenth was entirely frescoed by Pinturicchio on drawings by Raphael with scenes from the life of Pope Pius II, belonging to the noble Sienese family Piccolomini.
So recandoci in the right aisle are those environments that museum guard works from the dome.
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
Retrieved from the closure of the first three bays of the right aisle of the "New Cathedral", gathers an extraordinary collection of works among which the sculpture of Giovanni Pisano and the extraordinary Majesty by Duccio di Buoninsegna, a masterpiece of Sienese painting. The museum also masterpieces by artists such as Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Taddeo di Bartolo, Domenico Beccafumi, Jacopo della Quercia and Francesco di Giorgio Martini, and even gold and silver including deserves recall the valuable support of the Chapel of liturgico Average embossed in silver, enamel, gold and rock crystal. Inside the museum there is the Church of St. Nicholas, a rare example of art in Siena late Baroque.
Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala
Built before the dome, this building was initially only hospice and later also the hospital, this function has remained until recently, so much so that here the writer Italo Calvino has received the last treatment.
The structure is currently as a large museum complex in which the first floor rooms are organized exhibitions, and numerous underground rooms are a very impressive venue for the myriad of archaeological finds preserved.
Battistero
Below the end bays of the choir of the cathedral of Siena, stands on the Piazza San Giovanni Baptistery. Built in the fourteenth century, has a Gothic facade unfinished. At the center is the beautiful baptismal font hexagonal marble, bronze and enamel, to whose creation helped some of the greatest sculptors of the Quattrocento: Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Jacopo della Quercia.
Crossed the square of the Cathedral is to take away Diacceto and then flows via Fontebranda, up to Fontebranda, the most ancient and the most famous of the many fountains of Siena. Cited by Dante in the thirteenth canto of hell, this source, as well as quench the city, was running the mills and provided employment for tanners and dyers of cloth. In the first tank could draw water for drinking, the second was used as a drinking trough for animals and a third, still further, served as a wash.
From Fontebranda you can already see in all its massive the imposing Basilica of San Domenico to which we go past the house where he lived St Catherine Benincasa. Going via Sant'Antonio Via della Sapienza and end in Piazza San Domenico.
Chiesa di San Domenico
Built with the Dominican convent in the thirteenth century, the church is a splendid example of Gothic architecture from the limited and severe forms.
Always linked to the cult of Saint Catherine, in the great basilica Dominican is preserved the relic of the saint's head. You can also appreciate the beautiful paintings of Sodom and Francesco di Giorgio Martini.Route C from Piazza San Francesco to the church of Santa Maria dei Servi
Chiesa di San Francesco
Built in the thirteenth century and subsequently enlarged and Trecento between the fifteenth century, the church saw the transformation of the primitive Romanesque building onto existing Gothic structure.
Inside, the counter is the remains of two fourteenth-century tombs and on the bottom and two large detached fragmentary frescoes respectively, from the Roman port and port Pispini.
Oratorio di San Bernardino
Located on the right side of the square, the place where he used to pray to this saint. Of two orders, of which the upper richly frescoed by Sodom and Beccafumi, while the lower one is decorated with seventeenth-century paintings.
Church of the Holy Spirit
Almost completely rebuilt between 1498 and 1504, has a nice Renaissance portal attributed to Baldassarre Peruzzi. Inside are numerous works of art, among which are of particular importance, in the chapel of the Spanish, the San Jacopo di Compostela who defeated the Moors, painted by Sodoma in 1530 and a rare terracotta crib painted in 1504 by the Ambrose della Robbia
We return by way of Pantaneto seguiamola and until we meet via San Girolamo, and then take away the Servants.
Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Servi
This church stands alone on top of a hill, overlooking the underlying Valdimonte.
Inside are preserved works of art, including the so-called Madonna del Bordone, painted by Coppo di Marcovaldo and Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni.