In the first half of the 14th century, the city of Siena was Florence’s main political, economic and artistic rival. Artists such as Duccio, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti were members of Europe’s most important school of painting. The architecture in Siena also reflects the city’s international importance and civic pride.

This lecture will examine the religious and civic art and architecture in Siena in order to understand the city’s unique beauty and rivalry with Florence.  We will visit the striking Gothic-style cathedral of Siena, and examine the various artistic works within, including Nicola Pisano’s 13^th-century pulpit, which is one of the most innovative works of its day.  In the Cathedral Museum, we shall view what was once the largest Italian altarpiece ever created – Duccio’s early-14^th-century Maestà.

The lecture will then continue in one of Italy’s most beautiful piazza’s – the Piazza del Campo.  Here we will discuss the civic architecture of Siena as embodied in the city’s most important civic structure – the Palazzo Pubblico.  This late-13^th-century building still serves as Siena’s town hall and preserves some of the most important murals of the 14th Century.

Lunch Break – Lunch can be arranged at a local, traditional restaurant in Siena.

The lecture will conclude with an in-depth analysis of these murals, beginning with Simone Martini’s Maestà in the former room of the “Great Council” and the Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the “Room of the Nine”- Siena’s medieval Oval Office.

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