(music) ("In The Sky With Diamonds" by Scalding Lucy)
Steven: We're in the Palazzo Pubblico
or "town hall" in Siena.
Beth: Remember that Siena was a city state.
It was its own country.
It had its own government.
We think about Italy as a unified country,
but back in the 14th century,
Italy was divided into city states
and Siena was one.
It was a very proud republic.
Steven: And it was very wealthy
through manufacturing and banking.
Primarily in fact, well into the 14th century,
the city was known as
the "Bankers to the Papacy."
And in addition, the city gained
a tremendous amount of wealth
because it was on the road between
France and Rome, and so anybody who
was going on a pilgrimage,
would stop here and, of course,
the city would enjoy the benefits
of that tourist trade.
There were two main censors of power
in the commune that was Siena.
That was the church and that's exemplified by
the Duomo at the top of the hill,
and then down here, just at the bottom
of the field or what is known as the "Combo",
sits the Palazza Pubblico.
In one of the main meeting rooms
where the rulers of the city, The Nine met,
we have an extraordinary series of frescoes
by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
Beth: And those are meant to remind
the rulers of the city their responsibilities
to be good and just.
Steven: And the dangers of not doing so,
let's describe for a moment the room itself.
On one wall, there is a set of windows,
but on the other three, major frescoes by Lorenzetti.
Opposite the windows is
the Allegory of Good Government.
To the right of that,
are the Effects of Good Government
in the City and the Country,
and then opposite that,
is what happens when tyrants take over.
Beth: Oh, and it's ugly.
Steven: Very bad.
Beth: (laughs)
Steven: So let's start with
the Allegory of Good Government.
Beth: And Allegory means
"figures that stand in for ideas."
We might want to note first that
the door where The Nine would enter
is right beneath the Personification of Justice
who sits looking up to another figure who
personifies Wisdom.
Justice is doing just that;
She's meting out Justice.
In her hands, she's got scales with
an angel on either side.
On her left, she metes out justice in
the form of a reward.
On the right, as punishment.
Steven: And that is quite the punishment,
an angel in the right scale is
actually cutting the head off
somebody who clearly was guilty.
Beth: But it's important that
she looks up to Wisdom.
Steven: Now you'll notice that there is
a small cord that goes from each of
those scales down to a seated figure
who has in her lap a plane ...
That is the kind of tool that
a carpenter would use to smooth rough spots.
Or in this case,
to create a certain degree of equality
among the different levels of society.
That plane has the words "Concordia"
written on it and it's just at about
that point that those two cords
from the angels in the scales
come together and are handed to the figure
in a blue robe.
That cord then winds its way
through all of the figures
who are standing at the bottom;
figures that are meant to represent
the people of Siena.
They are all held in line, held in check
by these cords that come from Justice herself.
If we move to the head of that line,
we can see the cord rises
and it's held by the largest figure.
That is the personification of
the good commune.
Beth: This figure is surrounded by
various Virtues.
Steven: On the left you can see Peace.
In fact the hall in which we stand
is called "The Hall of Peace" named after her.
Beth: She's reclining.
She's relaxed.
It's almost as if everything else was working,
if all of these other figures;
Justice, Concord, Fortitude, Prudence,
if they're all working, there's Peace
and there's nothing much for her to do.
Steven: She relaxes, by the way,
on a cushion, but if you look under
the cushion, you can see black forms.
That is meant to be armor.
Originally it would have been silver,
but it's oxidized over time.
So she's taken off her armor
and she can now relax.
As you said, if all of these allegorical
figures are doing their job,
then the city is at peace.
Prosperity can wane and there is a very
clear image of that in the fresco
on the right.
This is the effects of good government
in the city and in the country.
Beth: And we see the walls of the city of Siena.
Steven: We should caution that
probably the first few feet on the left
are a restoration and are not by Ambrogio.
This is one of the most ambitious,
perhaps the largest landscape and
cityscape certainly, that existed in the medieval,
I can't even think of a Renaissance painting
that is more ambitious than this.
Beth: And it's subject to secular,
it's not a biblical scene.
That's important at this time when
the vast majority of art made
would have been biblical.
Steven: So let's take a look at the cityscape.
What we have is a place where
commerce can flourish,
where there is plenty,
where there is no privation,
where there is justice
and art and culture.
We have a kind of utopia and it's remarkable
because if you think about the history of Paradise
and the way that it's represented,
Paradise is always seen in nature,
and yet here we have the earliest example
that I can think of where
Paradise exists in an urban context.
That is where man is in control of his society
and can actually produce through
careful governing an environment where
humanity can flourish.
I love architecture and it's pretty clear
that Ambrogio loved architecture, too.
Beth: He did and it's really
packed with people and it feels bustling
like a city where the citizens are
engaged in commerce and are well-to-do.
We see something that looks like
a hoosiery shop with people selling boots and socks.
Steven: In the foreground,
probably the largest group of figures,
are a group of women dancing in
wonderfully elaborate costume.
This is clearly symbolic.
Beth: So this is likely some allegory
about the peace and prosperity
that comes from good government.
Steven: What I love is the fact that
the city is open to our gaze.
You can look into all these shop windows.
You can see a lecture, perhaps a school
with somebody at a lecturn and
students listening actively.
Beth: And a place where you can buy
ham and meat next door [unintelligible].
Steven: There are people going about
their daily activities and if we look up,
we can see faces in some of the windows.
My favorite passage, you can actually see
construction workers who are actively
building the city.
Beth: I love this idea that
the leaders of Siena would be able to
look at this and see,
"If I do my job right, this is what my city will be."
Steven: That was taken so seriously, you know.
The Nine were only allowed to
be in office for two months because
there was such a fear of corruption.
So every two months, each of the members
of the city council would be exhanged
for another member of the aristocracy.
Beth: So let's look at the effect of
good government in the countryside.
This looks like the landscape around Siena.
There's a real sense of the observation
of the natural world which is so unusual
and new for this time.
Steven: And if you look carefully,
you can see some figures on horseback
that are just leaving the city.
These are obviously wealthy aristocracy.
In fact, one holds a falcon.
They're going out hunting.
As you go a little further,
you can see a peasant who is
walking into the city with a pig,
clearly bringing that pig to market.
There are donkeys that are bringing
grain from the fields.
In the distance,
there is a kind of combination of
both the season of spring and
the season of summer.
We see both the sowing of the fields
and harvesting going on.
So when you're looking at the allegory
of good government, to your right is
the Effects of Good Government
in the country and the city.
But opposite that is Bad Government.
That's on the left wall, so you have this
notion of right of justice of the good,
and you have this notion of
the left of evil of having gone astray.
The mean figure that is in opposition to
justice, if you look carefully,
looks just like a devil with horns, fangs,
but in back of that male figure,
is the words "Tyranny" and so we have
Justice and Tyranny who are in opposition.
Tyranny is surrounded not by Virtues,
but by Vices, and you can see for instance;
Avarice, Vainglory ...
Down below is a bound figure, and
here we see sadly Justice,
who is no longer ruling the city.
This fresco is in very poor condition,
but we can just make out
a series of criminal acts.
All of this is enclosed within an
architecture that is the architecture of war.
We can see a [unintelligible] wall
that speaks of defense and attack.
Beyond the allegorical figures,
we can see a city,
but this is not a city that is still being built.
This is a city that's being destroyed.
The walls have holes.
The windows have been broken and
there's a sense of fear among the citizenry.
Beth: In fact, I see below, a woman
being carried off by two men
in a very menacing scene,
and below them, a fallen wounded figure.
Steven: To the left of the city,
we see fields, but these fields have been burned.
We can see the flames of houses on fire
and it is a place of want,
of neglect and of fear.
In fact, the word "terror" rides over the landscape.
So this room becomes a very clear message,
both a promise and a threat,
to the government of Siena.
It is an extraordinary expression of
the way in which morality can be
portrayed in the most direct sense
in the place that it's needed most.
Beth: What's really interesting to me
is that when we walk to
the center of this room
and look through a doorway,
we see Simone Martini's Maesta of the Virgin
based on Duccio's Maesta which is
in the cathedral.
Steven: So the Virgin Mary,
reigning queen of Siena, taking her place
beside the allegorical symbol of Justice,
both seated, both enthroned.
Beth: And this idea that the Virgin favors Siena,
and in favoring Siena has given it a republic
that the government of Siena must now protect.
(music) ("In The Sky With Diamonds" by Scalding Lucy)