Siena - Finestre sull'Arte

Siena, the capital of elegance

Siena was perhaps the Italian city best loved by Vittorio Alfieri, who in his Autobiography, published in 1806, did not fail to praise itselegance, a quality peculiar to this city. "So great is the force of the beautiful and the true," Alfieri wrote ...
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Siena's Pinacoteca Nazionale reassembles a masterpiece, Sano di Pietro's Polyptych of the Gesuati

The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena recomposes after centuries the Polyptych of the Gesuati by Sano di Pietro (Siena, 1405 - 1481): the Madonna Enthroned between St. Dominic, St. Jerome, Blessed Giovanni Colombini, St. Augustine and St. Francis, preser...
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Siena, Giovanni di Paolo's two panels shine again after restoration

Two panels by one of the most important Sienese masters of the 15th century, Giovanni di Paolo (Siena, c. 1403 - 1482), shine in Siena: the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist, the two panels by Giovanni di Paolo from the Oratory of Saints John and ...
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The patronage of Pius II, the humanist pope

Building the ideal city at the height of the Renaissance was an ambitious project, to say the least, although the great passion for the arts and the high intellectual knowledge of one man, one of the greatest patrons of his time, had made this dream ...
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When the Palio di Siena is a work of art. The artists who painted the banner

As the sound of the mortar shell rampages through the shell of the Piazza del Campo, the horses, with their respective jockeys on their backs, appear under the Torre del Mangia and make themselves known to the contradaioli thronging around. All, hand...
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Siena Cathedral's Baptismal Font, the work of the great Renaissance masters, restored

TheOpera della Metropolitana di Siena and theArchdiocese of Siena, Colle di Val d'Elsa and Montalcino conclude the restoration of the Baptismal Font in Siena Cathedral by returning it to visitors. The sculptural work created by Donatello, Jacopo dell...
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The debut of Sassetta, elegant painter of the 15th century. What the Massa Marittima exhibition looks like

It is the Maremma's turn to launch Stefano di Giovanni known as Sassetta, an elegant protagonist of early 15th-century Sienese painting, into the crowded arena of ancient art exhibitions. Never before had a monographic exhibition been devoted to this...
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How Pandolfo Petrucci's patronage changed the face of Siena in the Renaissance

A patron so splendid that he earned the appellation "Magnifico." Pandolfo Petrucci (Siena, 1452 - San Quirico d'Orcia, 1512) was one of the most powerful men in late 15th-century Siena , and his activities in the arts contributed substantially to sh...
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