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Title: The Story of Siena and San Gimignano
Author: Edmund G. Gardner
Illustrator: Helen M. James
Release Date: September 24, 2014 [EBook #46954]
Language: English
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THE
STORY OF SIENA
AND
SAN GIMIGNANO
_All rights reserved_
[Illustration: _Madonna with Saints._
_by Neroccio di Bartolommeo Landi._]
THE
STORY OF SIENA
AND
SAN GIMIGNANO
BY
EDMUND G. GARDNER
ILLUSTRATED BY
HELEN M. JAMES
AND MANY REPRODUCTIONS
FROM THE WORKS OF
PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS
[Illustration]
1902
LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO.
ALDINE HOUSE, W.C.
To
THE MEMORY
OF
HELEN M. JAMES
PREFACE
This present volume is intended to provide a popular history of the
great Republic of Siena, in such a form that it can also serve as a
guide-book to that most fascinating of Tuscan cities and its
neighbourhood. San Gimignano has been included, because no visitor to
Siena leaves the "fair town called of the Fair Towers" unvisited; I have
made special reference to it in the title of the book, to lay stress
upon the point that, although for administrative purposes San Gimignano
is included in the province (and in the _circondario_) of Siena, its
history is practically distinct from that of Siena and is more
intimately connected with the story of Florence.
The appended list of books and authorities, needless to say, is not a
complete bibliography, nor even a catalogue of those quoted in the
course of this work. It only represents some of those that my readers
will find most useful and helpful, or that will supply further
information upon many topics which the limits of this series of
Mediaeval Towns have compelled me to treat somewhat cursorily and
scantily.
The lamented death of Miss Helen M. James deprived us of her assistance
in the illustration of the last three chapters, more especially of the
two dealing with San Gimignano. Her work has been at the service of
this series from the beginning; but it is, perhaps, especially those who
have had the privilege of knowing her, and who have had the opportunity
of appreciating her character and her personality, that will realise the
greatness of this loss. My friend and publisher, Mr. J. M. Dent,
associates himself with me in dedicating this volume to her memory.
E. G. G.
_October 1902._
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
_The Republic of Siena_ 1
CHAPTER II
_Saint Catherine of Siena_ 43
CHAPTER III
_The People and the Petrucci_ 67
CHAPTER IV
_The Sculptors and Painters of Siena_ 99
CHAPTER V
_The Campo of Siena and the Palace of the
Commune_ 126
CHAPTER VI
_The Duomo and the Baptistery_ 149
CHAPTER VII
_In the Footsteps of Saint Catherine_ 184
CHAPTER VIII
_The Last Days of the Republic_ 210
CHAPTER IX
_Through the City of the Virgin_ 246
CHAPTER X
_Some Famous Convents and Monasteries_ 298
CHAPTER XI
_San Gimignano_ 324
CHAPTER XII
_In the Town of the Beautiful Towers_ 344
_The Family of Pope Pius the Second_ 297
_Bibliographical Appendix_ 366
_General Index_ 373
ILLUSTRATIONS
* _The Madonna with Saints_ (_Neroccio di Bartolommeo
Landi_). _Photogravure_ Frontispiece
PAGE
_Siena from behind San Domenico_ 3
_La Castel Vecchio, the oldest part of Siena_ 8
*_On the Battlefield of Montaperti_ _facing_ 17
_A street in Siena_ 24
_La Croce del Travaglio_ 35
_La Lupa_ 42
*_St Catherine of Siena_ (_Andrea di Vanni_) _facing_ 47
*_Letter from St Catherine to Stefano Maconi_ _facing_ 56
_St Catherine's Lamp_ 65
_The Mangia Tower_ 69
+ _The Elevation of Enea Silvio Piccolomini to the
Papacy as Pius II._ (_Pinturicchio_) _facing_ 73
_Via Fontebranda_ 77
_The Porta Romana_ 95
+ _The Pulpit of the Duomo_ (_Niccolò Pisano and
his Pupils_). _Photogravure_ _facing_ 100
+ _The Font of San Giovanni of Siena_ (_Giacomo
della Quercia_) _facing_ 104
* _The Madonna and Child_ (_detail from Duccio's
Altarpiece_). _Photogravure_ _facing_ 112
_Bastion outside the Porta Pispini, erected by
Baldassare Peruzzi_ 116
_Via Giovanni Duprè_ 121
_The Palazzo Pubblico_ 133
_The Market-Place_ 146
_The Duomo_ 151
_Interior of the Duomo_ 163
+ _The Canonisation of Saint Catherine, from
Pinturicchio's fresco._ _Photogravure_ _facing_ 174
+ _The Crucifixion, by Duccio di Buoninsegna.
Photogravure_ _facing_ 178
_Steps beside the Baptistery_ 180
_Fontebranda_ 189
_House of St Catherine_ 193
_Via della Galluzza_ 199
+ _The Ecstasy of St Catherine. Detail from
Bazzi's fresco. Photogravure_ _facing_ 204
_A suburban Chapel_ 212
_Banner-holder in the Piazza Postierla_ 217
_An old fanale in the Piazza San Giusto_ 223
_Via dei Termini_ 229
_Porta Ovile_ 237
_Remains of a Mural Tower_ 244
_Palazzo Saracini_ 249
_The Tower of Sant' Ansano_ 255
_Pozzo della Diana_ 259
_Via delle Sperandie_ 263
_Via della Fonte_ 267
_Fonte San Maurizio_ 279
_Piazza and Palazzo Tolomei_ 287
_At the older circuit of the walls_ 296
_Fountain outside Posta Ovile_ 299
+ _Coronation of Virgin_ (_Andrea della Robbia_) _facing_ 304
*_A Miracle of St Benedict_ (_Bazzi_) _facing_ 314
*_Maurus and Placidus_ (_Bazzi_) _facing_ 320
*_San Gimignano_ _facing_ 325
+ _Apparition of St Gregory._ (_Domenico Ghirlandaio_) _facing_ 330
*_In the Town of the Fair Towers_ _facing_ 340
+ _The Funeral of Santa Fina_ (_Domenico Ghirlandaio_) _facing_ 349
+ _Heads of Choristers_ (_Domenico Ghirlandaio_) _facing_ 352
+ _St Augustine at School._ (_Benozzo Gozzoli_) _facing_ 358
_Map of Siena_ _facing_ 372
* _These illustrations are reproduced, with permission, from photographs
by Messrs Alinari of Florence._
+ _These illustrations are reproduced, with permission, from photographs
by Messrs Lombardi of Siena._
_We are indebted to Signor Enrico Torrini of Siena for permission
to make use of his map._
_The remaining illustrations are all from drawings by Helen M.
James._
The Story of Siena
and
San Gimignano
CHAPTER I
_The Republic of Siena_
Siena remains the most perfectly mediaeval of all the larger cities of
Tuscany. Its narrow streets, its spacious Gothic palaces and churches,
the three hills upon which it rises enthroned, with the curiously
picturesque valleys between them, are still inclosed in frowning walls
of the fourteenth century. The Renaissance came to it late, gave it its
enduring epithet of "soft Siena," and blended harmoniously, almost
imperceptibly, with its mediaeval spirit.
According to the more picturesque of the traditions respecting its
origin, Siena was founded by Senius, the son of Remus, who brought with
him the image of the _Lupa_, the she-wolf suckling the twins, which
still remains the city's badge. When he offered sacrifice to his gods, a
dense black smoke arose from the altar of Apollo and a pure white smoke
from that of Diana--in commemoration of which was made the _balzana_,
the black and white shield of the Commune that we still see upon
Siena's gates and public buildings. There are two other shields
associated with it: a blue shield with the word _Libertas_ in gold
letters; a red shield with a white lion rampant. According to other
traditions, scarcely more historical, the first was granted to Siena by
Charlemagne, the second (the arms of the People) by the Emperor Otto.
Siena was a place of very small importance during the dark ages. As in
the case of its neighbour and rival, Florence, its epoch of greatness
begins with the earlier decades of the twelfth century, in the confused
period that followed the death of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany.
Throughout the greater part of the twelfth century and at the beginning
of the thirteenth, the Republic of Siena was nominally ruled by Consuls,
who up to the middle of the twelfth century shared their authority with
the Bishop. They were men of noble rank, usually three or sometimes six
in number, elected by the people in the parliament that met either
before the then Romanesque Duomo or in the Piazza di San Cristofano, to
hold office for one year. At first the nobles were the greater power in
the State; some at least were the descendants of the foreign invaders,
the counts and barons of the Frankish and German Emperors, and the
result of their prepotency was naturally combined with the territorial
rivalry with Florence to make Siena throw in its lot with the
Ghibellines, when the great struggle between Papacy and Empire, between
republican ideals and feudal traditions, divided Italy. Gradually five
noble families came to stand out pre-eminently as the _schiatte
maggiori_, with special privileges from the Republic and a predominating
influence in the State, names that we shall meet with again and again in
Siena's story; the Piccolomini, the Tolomei, the Malavolti, the
Salimbeni and the Saracini. The Salimbeni were
[Illustration: SIENA FROM BEHIND S. DOMENICO]
the richest and exercised considerable territorial sway in the contado;
the Piccolomini claimed to be of pure Latin descent, and were
undoubtedly of more democratic tendencies. These nobles were divided
against themselves; there was bitter feud between the Salimbeni and the
Tolomei, between the Malavolti and the Piccolomini. And presently the
people took advantage of this to rise and claim their share in the
administration of the city, and in the reformation of 1147 they obtained
a third part of the government.
Gradually the Republic of Siena extended its sway over the neighbouring
townlets and over the castelle of the contado, whose feudal lords were
forced to reside in the city for some months in the year, to fight for
the Commune in war. In spite of internal factions and dissensions, the
city increased in wealth and prosperity; its commerce was largely
extended; fugitives from Milan, flying from the Teutonic arms of
Frederick Barbarossa, introduced the Art of Wool; Sienese gentlemen, led
by Filippo Malavolti--a noble whom we dimly discern as a great figure in
those far-off republican days--sailed to Syria in Pisan galleys and
shared in the capture of Acre. Notwithstanding its traditional support
of the imperial cause, it was in this century that Siena gave to the
Church the "great Pope of the Lombard League"--Orlando Bandinelli, who
during his long pontificate as Alexander III. (from 1159 to 1181) knew
how to uphold the rights of Italy no less than the claims of the Papacy
against the mightiest of the Kaisers. And, indeed, the Ghibellinism of
the Sienese was always of a patriotic Italian type. In 1186 they closed
their gates in the face of Barbarossa, believing that he meant to
deprive them of their contado, and hurled back his son Henry discomfited
from the Porta Camollia. At the close of the century, Siena began to
have a Podestà as chief magistrate, like the other cities of Tuscany,
who was probably at the outset an imperial nominee, and the consular
government appears to have ceased by about 1212; while the people became
associated into Arts or Guilds, somewhat resembling the more famous
Florentine associations, whose representatives sat in the councils of
the Republic and had their voice in the affairs of State.[1] Already the
glorious Duomo, though needless to say not in its present form, had been
consecrated by Pope Alexander, and the Dogana stood on the site of the
present Palazzo Comunale, a sign of increasing commercial prosperity. A
great part of the public authority was now in the hands of the
Camarlingo and the four Provveditori di Biccherna, the officials who
presided over the finances of the Republic. Though for a few years we
still find the names of consuls, the Podestà was from 1199 onwards the
chief officer of the State; we find in 1200 and in 1201 that Filippo
Malavolti held this office, but after 1211 it was invariably assigned to
a foreigner. In 1208 the oldest of the Sienese palaces, the Palazzo
Tolomei, was built; although burned by the people on at least two
occasions, it still retains not a little of its early mediaeval aspect.
Throughout the greater part of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
Siena--usually more or less allied with Pisa, Pistoia and the Conti
Guidi--was engaged in a series of wars with Florence, an intermittent
struggle alternating with hollow, insincere treaties of peace. This was
due to the antagonistic ideals of Guelf and Ghibelline, to the growing
commercial rivalry between the two republics, each especially striving
to get into the hands of its own merchants and noble bankers all the
increasingly lucrative affairs of the Roman Curia, and, perhaps, more
immediately to the fact that each was striving to extend its contado at
the expense of the other. Poggibonsi, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Montalcino
and Montepulciano--in which right was probably with Siena and might with
Florence--were perpetual sources of contention, and the Sienese suffered
severe defeats time after time. "Do not forget through eternity those
that deny thee, that withdraw themselves from the homage they owe thee,
that plot against thee and that bring shame to thee." So runs the black
book of the Commune, the _Memoriale delle Offese_, in which these things
were recorded. "Be mindful of Montepulciano, that, though it be of thy
contado, most proudly endeavours to withdraw itself therefrom."[2]
Grosseto was the first place of importance that, in 1224, fell
permanently into the hands of the Sienese, a town previously swayed by
the Counts Aldobrandeschi of Santa Fiora, those most potent nobles of
the Sienese contado whose pride and whose imperialistic tendencies are
recorded by Dante.
Within the city the factions raged furiously. The power of the nobles or
_gentiluomini_ was waning, even in Ghibelline Siena. It was laid to
their charge that the wars with Florence had taken so unfavourable a
turn, that the Florentines were ravaging the contado, had hurled donkeys
into Siena with their catapults, and on one occasion had even penetrated
into the city itself. By what appears to have been a comparatively
peaceful revolution in 1233, the people obtained an increased share in
the government; a supreme magistracy of Twenty-four was created, elected
annually by the General
[Illustration: In Castel Vecchio, the oldest part of Siena]
Council, eight from each _terzo_ of the city, half from each order.[3]
But their rule became irksome to the more conservative section of the
nobles, who formed a rival party and strove to oust the _popolani_ from
power. In 1240 it came to blood, to adopt the Dantesque phrase. The
opponents of the new regime, headed by the Podestà, Manfredi da
Sassuolo, rose in arms; the people, led by a certain Aldobrandino di
Guido Cacciaconti, who is described as one of the "grandi del popolo di
Siena," and who was of an old feudal family, rallied round the
Twenty-four. The battle began in three places in the city. There was
fighting up and down the narrow streets; there was flaming of torches
and clashing of weapons round the palaces and towers. The Palazzo
Tolomei and the Palazzo Malavolti were burned, and after much
devastation and bloodshed, when many had fallen on either side, the
Twenty-four got the upper-hand, drove out a certain number of the
nobles, and appointed Aldobrandino Podestà. He was a strong and prudent
man, who put down disorder with a firm hand, and reconciled many of the
leaders of either party. In the comparative tranquillity that followed,
the streets and squares of Siena were paved for the first time. But the
struggle with Florence proved disastrous. The Sienese were forced to
make a disadvantageous peace, and, in 1255, there was an alliance
concluded between the rival republics, in the epoch of Guelf
predominance that followed the deaths of Frederick II. and King Conrad.
It was in this brief breathing space, of external peace and internal
tranquillity, that a knight of Siena, Messer Folcacchiero de'
Folcacchieri, wrote what was once thought to be the earliest extant
example of a regular canzone, describing his own hapless plight through
love: _Tutto lo mondo vive senza guerra_: "All the world is living
without war, yet I can find no peace." The constitution at this time
shows the usual bewildering number of separate councils that we find in
mediaeval Italian republics. The four Provveditori di Biccherna with
their Camarlingo still administered the revenues of the State, the
executive was in the hands of the Podestà and Captain. Laws were
discussed and approved in the General Council of the Campana, composed
of "three hundred good Catholics, not excommunicated nor suspected of
heresy." There was nominally a Parliament, which the Podestà and Captain
could not summon without the consent of two-thirds of the Council of the
Campana, and without previously explaining what they intended to
propose. But "the Twenty-four were the informing soul of the
constitution, and once a month they met in secret council without the
Podestà and Captain."[4]
But it was not for long that the Lion shook hands with the Wolf, as we
see them at a later epoch on the pavement of the Duomo. Florence was now
the predominant power in Tuscany, fiercely democratic and strenuously
Guelf; while Pisa and Siena alone clung to the discredited cause of the
Ghibellines, the latter thirsting to recover Montalcino which had been
lost in the last war. Away in the south, Frederick's heroic son, King
Manfred, was upholding the claims of the imperial house of Suabia, and
Siena looked to him. A band of exiled Florentines came to Siena in 1258,
led by that tremendous Ghibelline noble whom Dante was afterwards to see
rising from his fiery tomb as though he held all Hell in scorn, the man
whom the triumph of the Guelfs would torture more than all the torments
of his burning bed: Farinata degli Uberti. In spite of the express terms
of the treaty, Siena turned a deaf ear to the remonstrance of her
nominal ally, and refused to expel the fugitives. War being now
inevitable, ambassadors were sent to Manfred to obtain his aid. The
price of the royal assistance was that the Sienese should swear fidelity
and obedience to him. This was done, and in May 1259, from Lucera, the
King received the Commune under his protection. To a second embassy,
praying him to take the imperial crown and to send a captain with an
army into Tuscany, Manfred answered that he loved Siena above all the
cities of Italy, and that he would shortly send to those parts such a
captain of his own blood and so great a force of armed men with him
"that he shall make the rough ways smooth, and rule that province in
peace."[5] And in December the Count Giordano d'Anglano, the King's
near kinsman, appeared in Siena, with a small force of Germans. He at
once took the field in the Maremma, where Grosseto and Montemassi had
rebelled from Siena, and forced the former town to surrender in
February. Hearing that the Florentines were making huge preparations,
and were sending supplies to Montepulciano and Montalcino, another
embassy was sent to Manfred in March, headed by the most influential
citizen of Siena, Provenzano Salvani.
No sooner had spring come than the Florentine army, headed by their
Podesta, Jacopino Rangoni of Modena, entered the territory of the
republic and advanced upon Siena by way of Colle and Montereggioni,
forcing the Sienese to raise the siege of Montemassi, and to withdraw
all their troops for the defence of the city. On the morning of May
18th, there was a smart engagement at Santa Petronilla outside the Porta
Camollia. A small force of Germans and Sienese made a vigorous sortie,
in which the Germans bore the brunt of the fighting, lost the greater
part of their number killed, and the royal banner fell into the hands of
the Florentines, who retired to their encampment, having suffered
severely in killed and wounded. They broke up their camp and retreated
on the 20th, almost simultaneously with the return of Provenzano and his
colleagues to Siena followed by a strong force of German and Italian
mercenaries from the King.[6] The war was at once renewed with activity,
Provenzano Salvani being the leading spirit throughout. Montemassi was
taken and Montalcino rigorously blockaded.
The critical condition of Montalcino combined with Ghibelline intrigues
to bring the Florentines again into the field. Farinata and his fellow
exiles gave the _anziani_, who then ruled in Florence, to understand
that Siena was thirsting for a change of government, for the overthrow
of the Twenty-four, and the banishment of Provenzano, "who was the
greatest _popolano_ of Siena," and that the nobles were prepared to sell
the city to the Florentines. In spite of the strenuous opposition of
Tegghiaio Aldobrandino and the Conte Guidoguerra, the Florentines
decided instantly to resume hostilities--nominally to relieve
Montalcino, in reality to destroy Siena. They called the people to arms
to follow the standards of their companies, summoned aid from Lucca and
Bologna and all the Guelf cities of their league. At the beginning of
September the army of Florence with the Carroccio or battle car of the
Republic, over which floated the red and white standard of the Commune,
entered the Sienese contado, where it was joined by the men of Perugia
and Orvieto. Without counting these, there were at least 3000 horsemen
and more than 30,000 infantry; but there were traitors in the army, in
secret understanding with the enemy. From their camp beyond the Arbia,
the captain and commissaries of the Florentines sent ambassadors to the
Sienese, to demand their instant and absolute submission. "Straightway
throw down your walls," they began, "in order that we may enter your
city at whatever place likes us best."
Forthwith the Twenty-four of Siena summoned the council to meet in the
church of San Cristofano. There was some wavering at first. The worthy
burghers knew nothing of the secret dealings of the Florentine exiles
(to which, probably, Provenzano alone was privy), but had heard much of
the might and fierceness of the invading forces, and several of the
council urged a compromise. At once Provenzano Salvani sprang to his
feet and bade them summon the Count Giordano. The Count came and, with
the sixteen German constables, his seneschal and an interpreter, stood
before the council. There was no thought of surrender then; the Germans
shouted with delight at the prospect of double pay and speedy fighting,
and Salimbene Salimbeni at once hurried to his palace and returned with
the money, driving through the piazza in a cart covered with scarlet and
decked with olive. Through his mouth the Twenty-four gave their reply to
the Florentine herald: "Go back to your captain and the commissaries,
and tell them that we shall answer them by word of mouth on the field."
The whole city was arming; before the church, the piazza of the Tolomei
and all the streets leading to it were packed with a wildly expectant
and ever increasing crowd. While away in the Duomo the Bishop assembled
the clergy and religious, with bare feet moving in solemn procession to
implore the divine aid against "the impious appetites of the
Florentines," the Twenty-four had elected Buonaguida Lucari _sindaco_
with full powers--practically Dictator.
"Men of Siena," cried Buonaguida from the steps of San Cristofano, "ye
all know how we have recommended ourselves to the protection of King
Manfred; let us now surrender ourselves, our goods and persons, our city
and our contado with all our rights, to the Queen of Eternal Life, to
our Lady and Mother, the Virgin Mary. Follow me now, all of you, with
purity of faith and freedom of will, to make this offering."
Bareheaded and barefooted, clad like a beggar with a halter round his
neck, the Dictator solemnly carried the keys of the city to the Duomo,
followed by the people, barefooted too, and crying continually,
_misericordia, misericordia_. There all the clergy met them, and at the
foot of the choir the Bishop and Dictator solemnly embraced, in pledge
of the complete union of Church and State, while hereditary foes fell
into each other's arms. Then after silent prayer, prostrate before the
altar, the Dictator in an impassioned harangue formally made over the
city and contado of Siena to the Mother of Heaven, while the Bishop
mounted the pulpit and solemnly exhorted the people to mutual
forgiveness and to approach the sacraments. The next day there was a
long procession through the streets, the keys were blessed and given
over to the keeping of the Gonfalonieri (the elected heads of the three
terzi). All night the churches had been thronged by crowds approaching
the confessionals, by enemies seeking reconciliation with each other,
and at daybreak the Twenty-four sent three heralds with the banners of
each terzo to call the people to arms in the name of God and of the
Virgin Mary.
It was Friday, September 3rd. The whole army consisted of a little more
than 20,000 men. There were 800 Germans and other royal horsemen with
the imperial banner, under Count Giordano and the Count of Arras; 400
more horsemen, partly Germans and partly noble Sienese, under the Count
Aldobrandino degli Aldobrandeschi of Santa Fiora and Niccolò de'
Bigozzi, seneschal of the Commune. The Florentine and other Ghibelline
exiles, under the Count Guido Novello and Farinata, were partly with
Giordano, partly with Count Aldobrandino. There were 19,000 citizen
infantry from the three terzi of the city and the contado, under the
Podestà, Francesco Troghisio, and their three Gonfalonieri, with the
Carroccio of the Republic over which floated a white standard "that gave
right good comfort, for it seemed the mantle of the Virgin Mary." A
number of priests, some of them armed, accompanied the army; the rest
with the Bishop, old men and women, spent the day fasting, going in
procession from church to church throughout the city reciting litanies
and the like. They marched out of the Porta Pispini and occupied the
hill of Monteropoli beyond which, in the plain of the Cortine between
the Biena and the Malena (little streams that join the Arbia), and on
the opposite hill of Monteselvoli, lay the Guelf army--its leaders
confidently expecting a revolution in Siena in their favour and the
speedy surrender of one of the gates of the city. All during the night
the Sienese harassed the Florentine camp, and on Saturday morning,
September 4th, the battle began.
The Count of Arras, with some 400 horse and foot, advancing along the
Biena, moved round Monteselvoli to fall upon the Florentine left flank;
while the rest of the army left their hill, crossed the Arbia and
approached the enemies' position--the Florentines in the valley
hastening up their own side of Monteselvoli to join the main body. The
German heavy cavalry commenced the assault, dashing like dragons into
the ranks of the men of Prato, Arezzo and Lucca, horse and men falling
in heaps before their terrible lances. The Count Giordano led his
_tedeschi_ straight for the centre of the Guelfic army, where the
"martinella" rang continuously over the Carroccio of Florence, round
which the flower of the burgher army stood. The Count Aldobrandino with
his cavalry and the eager Sienese followed up the German onslaught; but
the resistance was long and stubborn. At last Bocca degli Abati, the
traitor in the troop of Florentine nobles, _hostis e cive factus_ as
Leonardo Bruni puts it, struck Jacopo Pazzi with his sword on the arm
that upheld one of the standards of the Republic; a portion of the
cavalry went over to the enemy; the rest, seeing themselves betrayed,
took to flight. Simultaneously the Count of Arras with the reserve,
shouting "San Giorgio! San Giorgio!" burst furiously upon the
Florentine flank. Then came, in Dante's immortal phrase, "the havoc and
the great slaughter that dyed the Arbia red." The Sienese, writes the
chronicler Niccolò di Giovanni Ventura, "seemed like unchained lions
rushing upon their foes; little did it avail these to call on San Zanobi
or Santa Liperata for aid, for they made a greater slaughter of them
than do the butchers of their beasts on Good Friday." The infantry were
driven from their position down into the valley, only to be ruthlessly
massacred. A band of Florentine burghers--the flower of the Primo
Popolo--stood to the end in heroic desperation round the Carroccio and
the standards, and fell in their places, resisting to the last,
embracing and kissing the blood-stained wood of the car as they died. A
number of the fugitives took refuge in the little castle of Montaperto
and held out there till later in the day, when it was stormed and they
were all put to the sword. It was not until evening had come that the
Count Giordano and the Gonfalonieri of the Sienese bade that quarter
should be given and prisoners accepted. The number of the slain Guelfs
probably lies somewhere between 10,000, which is the Sienese estimate,
and the 2500 given by Villani. The Carroccio had been taken; the _popolo
vecchio_ of Florence was "broken and annihilated," in Villani's terribly
expressive phrase; every house in Florence had lost members, and the
allied cities suffered only slightly less. Twelve thousand prisoners are
said to have been taken.[7]
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF MONTAPERTI]
We should visit the battle-field to-day, for the walk or drive is one of
the pleasantest in the neighbourhood of Siena. About four miles beyond
the Porta Pispini we cross the Bozzone, and then, to the left, ascend
the long, low hill of Monteropoli. This was the Sienese position before
the battle. Opposite is Monteselvoli, and at our feet the Arbia, and
between the two long hills the valley. The contadini take an uncanny
pleasure in showing us the way, in pointing out and naming the various
sites that witnessed the struggle. Away to the left, above the
Malena--nearly an hour's walk from the small railway station of
Arbia--is the spot where the battle ended. A steep little hill, the
lower part of which is a vineyard, is crowned with olive trees and
cypresses, surrounding a pyramid of rough brown stone. The view that it
commands is grand and sweeping; the black and barren hills to the south
east; Santafiore hid in clouds to the south; and westwards the
blood-stained valley of the battle-field, beyond which rises Siena
itself with its towers, behind which the sun was already sinking when
the Florentines made their last stand.
From the tower of the Marescotti (now of the Palazzo Saracini), Cerreto
Ceccolini had watched the whole fight, beating his drum in signal to the
people in the streets below, telling them of the course of the struggle,
bidding them cry to God and the Madonna while the event hung in doubt,
to shout in exultation when the day was won.
The victorious army rested that night on Monteropoli, with their
prisoners and booty. They made their solemn entry into Siena the next
day by the same gate through which they had passed out to the war, the
German nobles and soldiers crowned with garlands of olive, singing songs
in their own tongue as they made their way in triumphant procession to
the Duomo. Three days of general supplication and thanksgiving followed;
to the title _Sena vetus_ was added by solemn decree _Civitas Virginis_,
to the litany an _Advocata Senensium_. According to Malavolti, not more
than 600 Sienese had fallen on the field of battle, but among them were
many young men of the noblest families in the city. It is needless to
re-tell in this place the familiar story of the triumphant entry of the
Count Giordano with the Ghibelline exiles and his German mercenaries
into the desolate Florence, and how that short-lived despotism was set
up which the people themselves--those strenuous burghers and artisans of
the Florentine Guilds--overthrew six years later. Montalcino, the
original cause of the war, had surrendered to Siena a few days after the
battle, and had been cruelly humiliated. According to the Sienese
chroniclers, the people of Montalcino came through the Porta Romana in
penitential robes, with halters round their necks, crying
_misericordia_, and were forced to go to the field of battle to bury all
the abandoned dead. A similar fate befell Montepulciano, which Manfred
granted to the Commune of Siena on November 20th. In the following year
Provenzano was made Podestà of Montepulciano, and with him went Don Ugo,
the Camarlingo di Biccherna, to arrange for the building of a fortress
there.
But this epoch of Ghibelline prepotency in Tuscany was brief. The
victory of Charles of Anjou over Manfred at Benevento, in February 1266,
was followed by the restoration of the Guelf supremacy in Florence.
Siena and Pisa now stood alone.
Siena had not long remained united. There was still a Guelf faction
within the walls, headed by the Tolomei, and the nobles were daily
growing more estranged from the people. There was fighting in the Piazza
Tolomei in 1265, when the people fired the palace; and again, in 1267,
when, after the fall of Manfred, the Guelfs commenced to raise their
heads anew. It was in these years that Provenzano Salvani became the
ruling spirit of the State, and, in Dante's words, "in his presumption
thought to bring all Siena into his own hands." It was mainly through
his influence that Siena joined with Pisa in aiding Corradino, the
youthful grandson of the great Frederick, in his designs upon Italy.
Corradino came, a victim marked for the slaughter; and in August 1268 he
rode into Siena with his army, and was received with the utmost joy as
true Caesar. It was during his stay here that his troops, united with
the Sienese, gained a slight victory in the Valdarno, and the prisoners
brought into the city seemed to the exulting Ghibellines an augury of
the complete triumph of the imperial cause. In the utter overthrow of
these aspirations on the disastrous field of Tagliacozzo, "where without
arms the old Alardo conquered," a friend of Provenzano's had fallen into
the hands of the Angevin victor, who set a heavy ransom as the price of
his life. Then was it that Provenzano appeared in the guise of a
supplicant in the Campo, as Dante tells us in the _Purgatorio_, begging
money of all that passed by, till the sum was made up "to deliver his
friend from the torment that he was suffering in Charles' prison."
In the very next year a more bitter fate was Provenzano's own. With
Florentine aid, the Guelf exiles were threatening the Sienese frontier,
and Provenzano Salvani, with Count Guido Novello, led a mixed force of
Tuscan Ghibellines and Spanish and German mercenaries to attack Colle di
Val d'Elsa. Here, in June 1269, they were surprised by a smaller force
of French cavalry under Guy de Montfort, "routed and rolled back in the
bitter paces of flight," the Florentines and Guelf exiles taking ample
vengeance for the slaughter of Montaperti. More than a thousand Sienese
fell. Provenzano himself, to whom before the battle it had been foretold
that his head should be the highest in the field, was taken prisoner,
and murdered in cold blood by Cavolino Tolomei, who rode through the
host with his head upon the point of his lance. Among the Guelf exiles
in Colle was a noble lady named Sapia--the wife, it is said, of
Ghinibaldo Saracini--who waited in agonised suspense in a tower near the
field, declaring that she would hurl herself down from the window if her
countrymen were victorious. When she saw them routed, and watched the
furious Guelf pursuit, she broke out into the paroxysm of delight
recorded by Dante, "crying to God, Henceforth I fear thee no more."[8]
The battle of Colle di Val d'Elsa closes the period of Ghibelline
supremacy in Siena. In the following year Guy de Montfort, as vicar of
King Charles, forced the Sienese to take back their Guelf exiles, who
soon drove out the Ghibellines. Instead of the Twenty-four, the chief
power was now vested in a Thirty-six, who included both nobles and
_popolani_. The long struggle with Florence was over for the present,
Siena being forced to join her rival in the Guelf League under the
suzerainty of the Angevin king. And as was inevitable when the Guelfs
got the upper hand in an Italian state, in 1280 the nobles, or
_gentiluomini_, were excluded from the Government, which was now put
into the hands of the "Fifteen Governors and Defenders of the Commune
and People of Siena." A daring, but unsuccessful attempt of the
Ghibelline exiles and their adherents within the walls to recapture the
city in 1281 only resulted in strengthening the new democratic
government. In 1285 the Fifteen were reduced to Nine, the famous
magistracy of the _Signori Nove_, "the Lords Nine, the Defenders of the
Commune and People of the city and district of Siena, and of the
jurisdiction of the same," in which no members of noble houses could sit
(though still eligible for the other offices of the State, such as those
of the Provveditori di Biccherna). Their term of office was two months,
during which they lived at the expense of the State in one or other of
the palaces of the city, rented for the purpose, until the present
Palazzo Pubblico was built. The Nine were chosen from the _popolo di
mezzo_, the rich and enlightened merchant class, that came between the
nobles and the plebeians. Throughout the story of Siena we find the word
_Monte_ used to denote the faction or order that held sway, and this was
the beginning of the _Monte dei Nove_, whose adherents were afterwards
known as the _Noveschi_. The order that had previously held the
supremacy is henceforth known as the _Monte de' Gentiluomini_.
The Siena of this epoch of Guelf predominance is that luxurious city of
the _gente vana_, the "vain folk," that Dante knew, the city whose paths
he trod in the early days of his exile. Senseless extravagance reigned
side by side with hectic devotion and mystic enthusiasm. Typical,
indeed, of this time are two figures of whom we read in the _Divina
Commedia_; the young nobleman, Lano Maconi, who, having squandered all
his substance in riotous living, joined in the unsuccessful expedition
of the Sienese and Florentines against Arezzo in 1288, and, when the
Sienese fell into an ambush at the ford of Pieve del Toppo, instead of
saving his life by flight, dashed into the middle of the Aretines and
found the death he sought; Pietro Pettignano, Franciscan tertiary and
combseller of the Terzo di Camollia, who saved the soul of Monna Sapia
by his prayers, saw visions and wrought miracles, and after a life of
humility and righteousness died in 1289, and was venerated as a
saint.[9] Magnificent processions, gorgeous ceremonies of church and
state, sumptuous balls and banquets, celebrated the bestowing of the
order of knighthood upon the nobles of city and contado--each
aristocratic house striving to eclipse the other in lavish hospitality
and brilliant display. Amidst it all we hear the voice of that realist
of the Trecento--Cecco degli Angiolieri, who "anticipates Villon from
afar"[10]--singing of the three things for which he cares, _la donna_,
_la taverna_, _e' l dado_, celebrating his sordid passion for Becchina,
the shoemaker's daughter, pouring venomous abuse upon his own father,
who persisted in living on and thus keeping him out of his heritage,
railing against all mankind in half furious, half humorous style, daring
to break a lyric lance even with the divine Florentine, Dante Alighieri
himself. More characteristic of Siena is Cecco's contemporary; Folgore
da San Gimignano, in his _corona_ of fourteen sonnets addressed to the
_brigata nobile e cortese_, a club of twelve extravagant young Sienese
nobles. Month by month through the year he sets forth a round of
pleasures of every kind, feasting and hunting, music and jousting (the
latter, in spite of a reference to Camelot, of a very harmless,
carpet-knight description), dallying in pleasant places with lovely
women. Nowhere else shall you find so perfect a picture of the splendid
life and delicate living of courtly circles in "soft Siena"--_Siena
l'amorosa madre di dolcezza_, as another poet called her--with her gay
young gallants--
"Who as King Priam's sons might surely stand,
Valiant and courteous more than Lancelot,
Each one, if need should be, with lance in hand,
Would fight in tournament at Camelot."
It was from these glittering, luxurious scenes that one of Siena's
proudest nobles, Bernardo Tolomei, fled to the desert, in 1313, to found
the great convent of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, and to return to the city
in 1348 with his white-robed companions, to lay down his life for his
fellow-countrymen during the pestilence.
Until the advent of that terrible pestilence of 1348, the epoch of the
supremacy of the Nine is the brightest in the history of Siena. "In that
time," wrote Fra Filippo Agazzari, a few years later, "the city of Siena
was in such great peace, and in such great abundance of every earthly
good, that almost every feast day innumerable weddings of young women
were celebrated in the city."[11] It is the epoch in which most of
Siena's noblest buildings were reared, the epoch in which its three
supreme painters--Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, Ambrogio
Lorenzetti--for a brief while raised the school of their native city to
an equality with that of Florence. Trade flourished, the university
prospered; the Republic remained Guelf, though it retained a certain
Ghibelline element within its core that kept it from an aggressive
policy, and led the more strenuous Florentines to a proverb touching
their neighbour: _La lupa puttaneggia_, "the she-wolf plays the harlot."
In 1303 the Sienese purchased Talamone--which they fondly hoped to make
into a valuable sea-port whereby they might become a great maritime
power to rival Genoa or even Venice--from the Abbot of San Salvadore.
Henceforth, to their mocking neighbours, they became the "vain folk that
hopes in Talamone," upon which they spent enormous sums of money with no
result, owing to the unhealthiness of the situation and the
impossibility of keeping the harbour clear. They joined the Italian
league against Henry of Luxemburg, sent men and money to the defence of
Brescia, and, by their prompt assistance to the Florentines, helped in
forcing the Emperor to raise the siege of Florence in 1312, when his
army wasted their contado. A little later, when Uguccione della
Faggiuola was upholding the imperial cause, 400 Sienese cavalry and 3000
infantry were in the Guelf army that was annihilated at Montecatini in
1315. But in 1326, when Duke Charles of Calabria came to Siena on his
way to Florence, and demanded the lordship of the former city as well,
they rose in arms against him, barricaded the streets with chains, and
forced the proud Guelf prince to accept their terms. The Duke of Athens,
in 1343, having made himself tyrant of Florence, attempted to get Siena
into his hands, by stirring up the nobles against the Nine; the Nine
retaliated by arranging the conspiracy that caused his overthrow and his
expulsion from Florence. "For three days," writes Bindino da Travale,
"the _balzana_ floated over the Tower of the Commune of Florence, alone,
without any other banner."
[Illustration: A Street in Siena]
The external wars of this epoch, mainly against Pisa, were unimportant.
Within Siena itself the harmony was by no means unintermittent. A
passage that we read in the _Cronica Senese_ under the year 1314 is only
too typical: "On the sixteenth day of April there was great tumult and
battle in Siena, between the Tolomei and the Salimbeni, and all the city
was up in arms." And, in addition to the never ending feud between these
two great houses, there were political interests at stake. The Tolomei,
with whom were other houses of the magnates, were opposed to the Nine,
and adopted the cause of the lower classes of the people, the _popolo
minuto_, who were excluded from the Government by the burgher oligarchy.
In 1318 the Tolomei, with certain of the Forteguerri and other nobles,
plotted with the notaries and butchers and a number of artisans, to
overthrow the Nine; but the attempt was easily repressed. A prolonged
vendetta between Salimbeni and Tolomei kept the whole city disturbed
between 1320 and 1326, while similar feuds, accompanied by ferocious
murders and sanguinary riots, between the Malavolti and Piccolomini,
Saracini and Scotti, enlivened the two following decades of the century.
In 1346, a section of the Tolomei, allied with the _popolo minuto_,
attempted a rising in the contrada of the Porta Ovile; several of their
plebeian adherents were hanged, but the Captain of War was afraid to lay
hands upon the nobles. In 1347, the Pope's legate and the Nine succeeded
in reconciling the Piccolomini and the Malavolti.
The terrible pestilence, known as the Black Death, that swept over
Europe in 1348, devastated Siena for nearly six months. Even when we
remember Boccaccio's pages, we still read the account in the _Cronica
Senese_ with a fresh thrill of horror.[12] It raged from May to October.
Men and women felt the fatal swelling, "and suddenly, crying out, they
died. The father hardly stayed to see his son; one brother fled the
other; the wife abandoned her husband; for it was said that this disease
was caught by looking, and in the breath." So great was the mortality
that none could be hired to bury the dead. No sooner was a man's breath
out of his body, than his friends took him to the church and buried him,
without any funeral service, as best they could. Huge trenches were dug
in different parts of the city, and the dead thrown in,
indiscriminately, in great heaps. "And I, Agnolo di Tura called Grasso,
buried five of my sons in one trench with my own hands; and many others
did the like. And also there were some that were so badly covered up
that the dogs dragged them out, and ate many bodies in the city. No
bells tolled, and no one wept at any misfortune that befel, for almost
every person expected death; and the thing went in such wise that folk
thought that no one would remain on live, and many men believed and
said: This is the end of the world. Here no physician availed, nor
medicine, nor any defence; rather it seemed that the more precaution a
man took, the sooner he died." About three quarters of the inhabitants
of city and contado perished, though the "more than 80,000 persons" of
Agnolo di Tura must be an exaggeration. While the pestilence raged most
fiercely, Bernardo Tolomei and his white robed Olivetani came down from
their cloistered retreat to tend the stricken people of their native
city, and almost all, including Bernardo, died with them. In the
following year the Sienese who survived gave themselves up to feasting
and riotous living. They all behaved for a while like brothers and
relations, says the chronicler; each one felt as though he had won back
the world, and no one could settle down to doing anything. And for a
long while Siena seemed uninhabited, _per Siena non pareva che fusse
persona_.
The order of the Nine fell in 1355, and thirteen years of tumultuous,
perpetual change followed. The Emperor elect, Charles IV.--"di
Lusimburgo ignominioso Carlo," as Fazio degli Uberti calls him--was on
his way from Pisa to be crowned at Rome; the Sienese ambassadors,
headed by Guccio Tolomei and Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni, had sworn
fidelity to him at Pisa on behalf of the Nine, and he had sworn in
return to preserve the liberties of Siena, and to make the Nine his
vicars. With a thousand knights and barons, the Emperor and Empress
entered Siena on March 25th, each under a baldacchino gorgeous with
gold, with music playing and banners flying, and were greeted with
enthusiasm. No sooner had the Caesar dismounted at the palace of the
Salimbeni, than a cry arose throughout the city: "Long live the Emperor
and death to the Nine!" The Piccolomini with the consent of the other
magnates (excepting only Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni) began the
rising, and the _popolo minuto_ on the following day rose in arms at
their call. When night fell, on the 26th, the chains of the city were
cut, and the keys brought to the Emperor; the Nine, helpless and
terrified, lurked in the Palace of the Commune, while the people sacked
and burned their houses. The next day all Siena was in arms. The Emperor
rode through vast acclaiming throngs in the Campo to confer with the
Nine in the Palace, while louder and louder rose the deafening roar,
"Long live the Emperor and death to the Nine!"--the nobles instigating
the populace to further efforts. In the Palace the Caesar received the
abdication of the Nine, forced them to renounce all the privileges he
had granted them, to annul the oath he had sworn to their
ambassadors--while the younger nobles, shouting and cheering, led the
populace to sack the palaces of the Provveditori di Biccherna and
Consoli di Mercanzia, and the houses of the wool merchants, to release
the prisoners, to hunt out the luckless Podestà and War-Captain. The
books of condemnation, the papers of the Nine, were burnt before the
Emperor's eyes in the piazza, and their official chest was dragged
through the city at the tail of an ass. Though Charles had sufficient
decency to refuse to surrender the persons of the Nine to the fury of
the mob outside, he let the nobles and populace avenge themselves on
their houses and property, and it was not until the evening had come
that he sent his soldiers to guard the Dogana del Sale, and to order
every one to lay down their arms. But such was the general alarm that no
one would receive any of the adherents of the luckless Nine; their
servants deserted them, the very priests and religious shrank from them
as though they had the plague. The Emperor caused a certain number of
citizens to be elected--twelve nobles and eighteen of the _popolo
minuto_ to "reform the government," and went on his way leaving his
vicar, the Patriarch of Aquileia, in charge. A supreme magistracy of
twelve _popolani_ was elected, henceforth known as the _Signori Dodici_,
four from each terzo of the city, holding office for two months, one of
them to serve as Captain of the People; there was further to be a kind
of subsidiary council of six _gentiluomini_, who were not to reside with
the Signoria in the Palazzo, but without whom the Twelve could undertake
nothing of importance nor open letters that concerned the state. When
the Emperor returned from Rome at the beginning of May and passed
through Siena again, he was received with great honours and renewed
acclamations, as the Deliverer of the People, and made about sixty
knights, nobles of Siena and plebeians alike--many of the latter carried
bodily to him on the shoulders of the populace and knighted, amidst the
wildest clamour and confusion, against their own will and to the great
disgust of the imperial barons.
Hardly had the Emperor left the city than the six nobles--with the
consent of their leader, Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni, who appears
prominently during these years as a powerful influence in the Republic
on the side of peace and moderation--were forced to lay down their
office. The whole government now remained in the hands of the Twelve,
who were mostly petty tradesmen and notaries, and whose rule was corrupt
and incapable. A number of the subject towns refused to acknowledge
them; Montepulciano gave itself to Perugia, and the Sienese, in revenge,
persuaded the governor of Cortona to revolt against the Perugians. A
fierce war between Siena and Perugia followed. The Sienese gained a
creditable victory outside the walls of Cortona. The light armed cavalry
of Perugia harried the Sienese contado, and even approached the gates of
the city itself, and the Sienese retaliated by taking the mercenaries of
Conrad of Landau into their pay--who were, however, intercepted and
severely cut up by the Florentine mountaineers of the Val di Lamone--and
ravaged the Perugian territories up to the walls of Perugia. Peace was
made at the end of 1358, much to the advantage of Siena, who kept
Cortona, while the Perugians had to set Montepulciano free at the end of
five years. At the beginning of 1365 the latter town made Messer
Giovanni di Agnolino their Podestà, and returned to the obedience of
Siena.
During these years of the rule of the Twelve, the contado was
perpetually threatened by wandering bands of mercenaries--the Compagnia
Bianca, mainly Englishmen, but led by German captains; the Compagnia
della Stella; the Compagnia del Cappello of Italians, under Niccolò da
Montefeltro; the Compagnia di San Giorgio, which is associated with the
great name of John Hawkwood. These had to be compounded with, to be
guarded against by enrolling other mercenaries, to be played off against
each other. In October 1363, the Sienese, led by their Conservatore or
War-Captain, Ceccolo di Giordano Orsini, and stiffened by a strong force
of Germans and Hungarians, overtook the Compagnia del Cappello, which
was devastating the contado, in the Valdichiana, and gained a complete
victory, taking its captain and other leaders prisoners. But when, in
March 1367, they tried to play the same game with John Hawkwood and his
company of Englishmen, near Montalcinello, there was a very different
tale to tell; the Sienese were driven back to Siena in headlong rout,
their Conservatore was taken prisoner, and peace had to be purchased at
a goodly rate of golden florins. Within the city there was restless
plotting against the Twelve, followed by banishments and executions--for
this government was by no means so reluctant to lay hands upon the
nobles as the Nine had been. Realising that the feeling of the city was
turning against them, the Twelve sent a splendid embassy to receive Pope
Urban V. when he landed at the Port of Talamone (on his way to Rome in
that ineffectual, because premature, attempt to heal the leprosy of
Avignon), entered into league with him, sent horsemen under Sozzo
Bandinelli and Piero Piccolomini to support the cause of the Church at
Viterbo and Bologna. This was good so far as it went, but it did not
avert the storm that burst upon Siena in 1368.
The Twelve had split into two factions--the "Canischi" and the
"Grasselli." The Canischi sided with the Tolomei, with whom were
Piccolomini, Saracini, and Cerretani; the Grasselli were allied with the
Salimbeni. The Emperor was expected in Tuscany, and the most honoured
citizen of Siena, Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni, had come from
Montepulciano to head the embassy that went from Siena to greet Caesar
in Lombardy. Although even the magistrates in the Signoria were at
daggers drawn, Giovanni's influence had delayed the catastrophe; but, on
his return from the Emperor, he was killed by a fall from his horse on
the way from Siena to Rocca d'Orcia. The nobles rose in mass, united
with the adherents of the Nine, and _senza colpo di spada_, at the
beginning of September, forced the Twelve to surrender the Palace and
the entire control of the State. A new magistracy of thirteen consuls
was established; one from each of the five Greater Families, five
representatives of the lesser nobles, three to represent the Nine. An
embassy was dispatched by this new government to the Emperor; but, in
the meanwhile, the Salimbeni had made common cause with the adherents of
the Twelve, and sent ambassadors on their own account. On September 24th
the Salimbeni, shouting for the People and the Emperor, rushed out of
their palace and gardens in arms, joined forces with the Twelve, broke
open the Porta di San Prospero, and admitted Malatesta de' Malatesta,
the imperial vicar, who with 800 horse had been lying in wait. From
street to street the people and nobles struggled desperately with each
other; during the three weeks of their rule, the latter had fortified
their houses and enrolled soldiers for this emergency, which enabled
them to hold their own at first even against the trained cavalry of the
imperial vicar, while their overbearing and tyrannous conduct had
exasperated the people to madness. A last stand was made in the Campo
round the Palazzo, where there was a grim struggle, _grande e aspra
battaglia_, until Malatesta carried the place by storm, and the
populace, rushing in after the imperial soldiery, sacked it. The nobles
fled from the city with their families, carrying with them all the goods
that they could save from the wreck. Malatesta fortified himself in the
Poggio Malavolti, from which, until the following January, he
practically ruled the city as imperial vicar; while in the Palazzo a
popular council of 124 plebeians met, which was called the _Consiglio de
Riformatori_, and created a new supreme magistracy of twelve, composed
of five of the _popolo minuto_, four of the Twelve, three of the order
of the Nine; the Signori Dodici Difensori del Popolo Senese. The same
proportion of the three _ordini_ or _Monti_ was to hold in the general
council of 650 _popolani_. To reward the Salimbeni for their services to
the People, or, as Malavolti, the aristocratic historian of Siena, puts
it, "for the perfidy they had used against the other nobles," they were
given five castles in the Sienese contado and declared _popolani_, so as
to be eligible for the chief magistracy.
The Emperor came back to Siena on October 12th, with the Empress. He
entered at the Porta Tufi, where the Twelve and the Salimbeni met him,
all crowned with flowers and bearing olive branches. He alighted at the
Salimbeni palace, while his followers were quartered in the deserted
houses of the exiled nobles. The next day, after Mass in the Duomo, he
knighted Reame and Niccolò Salimbeni--"and very little pleasure did any
one take in that," says the Sienese Chronicle grimly. An enormous
present of money was made to him and the Empress, as also to Malatesta,
and when the Emperor left on the 14th, the Empress remained behind for
some days to induce Siena to redeem the imperial crown which had been
pawned in Florence. In the meanwhile the nobles were making alarms and
excursions in the contado, almost up to the gates of the city. There was
another revolution in December. The lowest portion of the populace, or
at least lower than those hitherto represented in the
administration--"verily plebeians and entirely new men," as Malavolti
has it--assailed the Palazzo, forced their way in, hunted out the
representatives of the Twelve and Nine alike. Finally by a sort of
general compromise a council of 150 _riformatori_ was appointed, who
reformed the State by the creation of a supreme magistracy of Fifteen
Defenders, composed of eight of the _popolo minuto_, four of the Twelve,
three of the Nine. This was the origin of the _Monte dei Riformatori_,
because the name was retained in the families of those _popolani_ who
took a part in this regime, the names of Nine and Twelve (_Nove_ and
_Dodici_) being retained in those families who belonged to these two
orders and shared their fortunes. The Monti of Riformatori, Dodicini,
and Noveschi were likewise known as the People of the Greater Number,
the People of the Middle Number, and the People of the Lesser Number
respectively.[13]
The Emperor rode again into Siena, with the Empress and a long train of
knights and nobles, on December 22nd. He dismounted as before at the
Palace of the Salimbeni. The nobles were still ravaging the contado and,
by means of the Marquis of Montferrat, Charles made some sort of attempt
to effect a reconciliation between them and the people, which was cut
short by the intrigues of the Salimbeni and Dodicini, who had gained the
shallow Caesar's ear. The arrival of a papal legate, the Cardinal of
Bologna, with armed men at the end of the month increased the general
alarm: it was rumoured that Charles intended to sell Siena to the Pope.
The Emperor demanded the surrender of the fortresses of Massa,
Montalcino, Grosseto, Talamone and Casole, and implied that he meant to
reform the State; the Fifteen summoned a general council of more than
800 citizens, and returned an absolute refusal. Then the Salimbeni
thought that the time had come to strike. On January 18th, Niccolò
Salimbeni rode furiously through the street with armed followers,
shouting "Long live the People! Down with the traitors who want the
nobles back!" Malatesta with his cavalry entered the Campo, drew up in
front of the Palace, calling upon the Signoria in the name of Caesar to
surrender, and to expel the three representatives of the Nine. Instantly
the alarm was sounded from the Mangia Tower. The armed forces of the
people poured into the Campo, and their captain, Matteino di Ventura
Menzani, with the gonfalone in his hand, led them against the foreign
cavalry. The bells were ringing _a stormo_ from churches and palaces,
clashing and clanging over the heads of republicans and imperialists,
when Caesar himself, his royal helmet crowned with a garland, appeared
upon the scenes. With the Salimbeni and a long train of horsemen he was
making his way to the Palazzo, when the victorious people, having routed
Malatesta, burst upon him at the Croce del Travaglio. The imperial
banner was struck down and the imperial forces broken. At the Palazzo
Tolomei "there was an incredible battle," the imperial escort fighting
desperately to cover the Caesar's retreat. One of the Salimbeni, with an
olive branch in his hand, came into the Campo in the name of Caesar to
implore the Captain to grant a cessation of hostilities, but was
promptly sent about his business. By the time that the unfortunate
Emperor got back to the Salimbeni Palace, he had lost more than 400
killed--including two of his nephews--and all the hospitals were full of
his wounded.
Before the fight had ended the Defenders sent a solemn procession to
bring back the three of the Nine who had left the Palace; "with a goodly
company, preceded by the trumpets, with garlands on their heads and with
olive branches in their hands; they put them back in the Palace in their
place, embracing them and kissing them with the greatest tenderness and
craving pardon." The Captain of the People issued a proclamation that no
one should sell nor give any food to the Emperor and his folk. "The
Emperor remained alone with the greatest fear that any rascal ever had.
The people stared at him; he wept and made excuses, embraced and kissed
every person that went to him, and said: 'I have been betrayed by Messer
Malatesta and by Messer Giovanni and by the Salimbeni and by the
Twelve.'"[14] Half starved and altogether terrified, the unfortunate man
promised anything the Sienese wanted, in order to get away from the
[Illustration: LA CROCE DEL TRAVAGLIO]
dreadful city. He made the Defenders his vicars in perpetuity, granted
the Sienese all conceivable privileges, pardoned everybody everything,
accepted a handsome sum of money, and went. Many of the Salimbeni and
others tried to escape disguised among the knights of his train, but
several were detected and handed over to the Captain of the People. It
was said that there had been a conspiracy to make over the lordship of
Siena to Malatesta with an annual tribute to the Emperor, to give the
Salimbeni and the Dodicini two days of complete vengeance over their
foes, to allow the soldiers three days' sack of the city. But the matter
was hushed up and the prisoners released, to the indignation of the
populace.
A few months of anarchy followed. The Salimbeni and the Dodicini were at
the throats of the Noveschi in the city, while the banished nobles
maintained a state of war in the contado. The Defenders and the Council
of the Riformatori appointed an _esecutore_ to maintain order and
execute justice, and formed a new association known as the Casata Grande
del Popolo, with the white lion for arms, to preserve the popular
constitution of the State. In July, 1369, by arbitration of the
Florentine Republic, peace was at last made, and the six exiled
families--Piccolomini, Malavolti, Saracini, Tolomei, Forteguerri,
Cerretani--were reconciled with the Republic and restored to their
country, with the right of sitting in all the magistracies of the State,
saving only those of the fifteen Defenders, the three Gonfalonieri, and
the Councils of the Riformatori. The treaty was received with universal
satisfaction--but the peace was of brief duration. Although the
Salimbeni had previously made terms with the other nobles, they
continued to hang the banner of the People out of their windows "come
consorti del Popolo."
Among the lowest degrees of the _popolo minuto_--men of the _infima
plebe_, workers and carders of the Art of Wool, who lived in the narrow
lanes up and down the Costa di Porta Ovile--an association had been
formed which afterwards came to be known as the Compagnia del Bruco,
from the badge of the contrada. In July 1371, induced partly by hunger,
partly by the oppression of the Masters of the Arte della Lana, a number
of them rose, took grain by force from the houses where it was stored,
and made a disturbance in the Campo. The Senator (as the Conservatore
and Capitano di Guerra was now called) arrested three of their
ringleaders, put them to the torture and sentenced them to death. They
were wool-combers of the Art, all belonging to the association. At once
the whole Compagnia rose in arms, and with tremendous uproar, on July
14th, assailed the Palace of the Senator, demanding that the three
should be released or else they would burn the place down. Hearing this,
the Captain of the People, Francesco di Naddo, left the Palazzo del
Commune with the gonfalone and the trumpets before him, and forced his
way up to the Senator's Palace. He induced the Senator to surrender the
three prisoners--with the sole result that the whole Compagnia, roaring
"Out with the Nine and the Twelve," "Long life to the People," led by a
certain Ferraccio swept through the streets, tore down the banner of the
People from the Salimbeni palace, seized the gonfaloni of the terzi,
drove headlong before them a band of nobles who had tried to stay their
march, and finally--with the aid of the greater part of the
populace--captured the Palazzo and expelled the four of the Twelve and
the three of the Nine from the Signoria, substituting seven of the
"Popolo del Maggior Numero." There was a short breathing space in which
the Council of the Riformatori attempted a sort of compromise. But in
the meanwhile the leaders of the Dodicini, with some of the Salimbeni
and others of the people who misliked what had happened, gained over the
Captain and the three Gonfalonieri to their side. It was arranged that
the Captain should secretly introduce armed men into the Palazzo, that
each Gonfaloniere should secure his own terzo, and that the Salimbeni
should march in from the contado with all their forces and seize the
city gates, after which there should be a general massacre of all their
opponents and the whole State should be reformed. The plot was to take
effect on August 1st; but some inkling of what was intended reached the
Signoria. Many arrests were made, and the conspirators resolved to
precipitate matters. But on the night of the 29th, hearing the clash of
arms in the Captain's apartments, the Defenders were put upon the alert,
and succeeded in taking the Captain red-handed in the act of opening the
gate. When day broke, the whole city was in an uproar. The three
Gonfalonieri and the Dodicini had armed their adherents to the number of
nearly two thousand men; they had occupied the mouths of the Campo and
the Croce del Travaglio. A horrible massacre commenced in the quarters
of the carders' association. The conspirators, armed with crossbows,
lances and swords fell upon the unarmed populace, hunting them up and
down the narrow lanes along the Costa d'Ovile, breaking into the houses,
murdering men, women and children alike. Then they turned to assail the
Palace. But the shrieks and the cries for aid of the fugitives had
roused the nobles and certain of the Noveschi, who armed themselves and
moved to the support of the Signoria. There was fierce fighting in the
Campo and at the foot of the Palace, and in each terzo; but at last the
victory was complete on the side of the government, and the soldiery of
the Salimbeni only moved up from the contado to find that all was over.
There was a large number of executions. On the 1st of August, the day on
which the conspiracy was to have taken effect, the Captain of the People
himself, dressed in scarlet, was led out into the Campo and solemnly
beheaded upon a scaffold covered with scarlet cloth. The Gonfaloniere of
the Terzo di Città was taken in hiding near San Domenico, and executed
at the Porta Salaia; his two colleagues, who had escaped, were declared
rebels, with many others. In the new reformation of the State, the
popolani of the Middle Number (_Dodicini_) were excluded, the Fifteen
being composed of twelve popolani of the Greater Number (_Riformatori_)
and three of the Minor Number (_Noveschi_), while almost all the
artisans, _minori artifici_, were added to the number of the
_Riformatori_.
The government of the Riformatori lasted till 1385. It was practically a
government of artisans; though patriotic and energetic, their rule was
extremely oppressive, and burghers and nobles alike murmured. There were
continual plots, followed by banishments, torturings, executions. The
Salimbeni were expelled in 1374, their houses and possessions wasted;
but they gathered together in the contado, captured many castles, and
carried on a formidable war against the State. In the stormy years that
followed the return of the Popes from Avignon and the consequent schism
in the Church, Siena suffered greatly from the bands of mercenaries who
appeared at intervals in the territory of the Republic, ravaging the
country with great damage. In June 1384 the army of the Sienese, engaged
in a war in the Papal States against the Prefetto di Vico and Hawkwood,
was completely defeated, and the Riformatori compelled to purchase an
ignominious peace. This shook their power. Shortly afterwards a futile
attempt to get possession of Arezzo by purchase from Enguerrand de
Courcy, who had occupied it for Louis of Anjou--in which they were
forestalled by the diplomatic skill of the Florentines--brought things
to a climax. The Malavolti with the Piccolomini, Cerretani, and other
nobles joined the Salimbeni in arms, and made war upon the Republic,
cruel reprisals being committed on either side, men's tempers
embittered; the Riformatori, in despair, were ready to admit the
Dodicini and Noveschi and all the people into their order. The
Florentines secretly fanned the flames. By the beginning of March the
Riformatori no longer dared to leave the city, while the nobles
threatened the gates of Siena itself. "Although I am not one of the
Riformatori," says the chronicler,[15] "yet do I say that the
Riformatori were more thoroughly artisan than any other government ever
was, and also the most loyal men towards their Commune; and they were
more courageous against their neighbours than any other government."
According to him they were undone by Florentine intrigue, and by the
fault of a few bad men among them. On March 23rd, 1385, certain of the
Dodicini forced the Bargello to release a prisoner whom he had arrested
near the Porta Salaia. This was the occasion of the rising. The
Riformatori called their partisans to arms, while the Dodicini and
Noveschi, led by the Saracini and Scotti, assailed them furiously in the
Campo. For the greater part of the day the struggle raged through Siena.
The masses of the people were desperately excited, but divided and
disposed to support the Riformatori. Then said a Jew to one of the
Saracini: "Do you wish to conquer? Now cry, _Viva la Pace!_ And at that
word all the people will hold with you." The rabble, _tutta la gente
minuta_, at once turned upon the Riformatori, and the rout was complete;
and on the following day the nobles and their allies entered Siena in
triumph. "Thus," writes our chronicler,[16] "the city was despoiled of
all the Arts, and the Kingdom benefited thereby and all the Marches and
the Patrimony, and Pisa grew populous with them. And I, the writer, who
am not one of the Riformatori, judged that it was ill done; for the city
of Siena was ruined and wasted, seeing that successively more than four
thousand good artisans, citizens of the city, were driven out, of whom
not the sixth part ever returned."
[Illustration: LA LUPA]
CHAPTER II
_Saint Catherine of Siena_
The closing years of this great republican epoch are lit up by the
genius and the inspiration of one of the most wonderful women in the
history of Italy: Caterina Benincasa, now more generally known as St
Catherine of Siena. She was born on March 25th, 1347, the youngest of a
large family of sons and daughters that Monna Lapa bore to her husband,
Giacomo Benincasa, a dyer of the contrada of Fontebranda. The family of
the Benincasa belonged to the Monte de' Dodici. Until the death of
Giacomo in 1368, his children all lived together with him in the house
still shown--one of the most revered sanctuaries of Siena--in the valley
below San Domenico.
In her childhood Catherine began to see visions, to practise almost
incredible austerities. Her talk already seemed full of a wisdom and a
prudence not her own. "It would have been enough," writes one of the
friars of San Domenico, who frequented Giacomo's house, "for any of the
wisest servants of God." For a long while her family opposed her
abnormal mode of life; but they were at last overcome by her sweetness
and perseverance. Her father especially, who had seen a white dove
hovering over her head while she knelt at prayer, was convinced that she
was acting in accordance with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and
bade the others leave her in perfect liberty to live as she chose. At
the age of sixteen or seventeen she took the habit of the Dominican
Sisters of Penance--the white robe of purity and the black mantle of
humility in which we still see her clad on the walls of so many of
Siena's churches and palaces. She still remained in her father's house,
though for the next three years she lived apart from her family and
utterly severed from the outer world: "Within her own house she found
the desert, and a solitude in the midst of people." She never left the
house save to go into San Domenico--especially that chapel known as the
Cappella delle Volte, so full still of the aroma of her sweet spirit.
Wondrous revelations came to her of the Divine Beauty; she smelt the
fragrance of unearthly lilies, and heard the celestial music of
Paradise, led by Mary Magdalene, singing _con voce alta e con grazia di
singolar dolcezza_. In her visions Christ stood continually by her side;
with Him she walked familiarly; with Him she talked as friend to friend,
or recited the psalms in her little room, as one religious is wont to do
with another. At last the divine voice spoke in her heart: "I will
espouse thee to Myself in perfect faith." On the last day of the
carnival, while all Siena was riotously feasting and making merry,
Christ appeared to her as she knelt in prayer in her cell, and the voice
in her heart spoke again: "Now will I wed thy soul, which shall ever be
conjoined and united to Me with most sincere faith, as I promised thee
before." Then seemed it to her that the Blessed Virgin came, gloriously
attended, to give her in mystical marriage to her Divine Son, who,
"gladly accepting, espoused her on the finger with a most noble ring,
which had a right wondrous diamond set in the midst of four goodly
pearls." "When this most certain vision passed away, the virgin saw
continually this ring when she looked at her finger, albeit to us it was
invisible."[17]
After this vision, Catherine, being now about twenty years old, joined
once more in the family life of her home, and began to mix with men and
women of the outer world. She chose for herself all the menial offices
of the house, was assiduous in the service of the poor and in tending
the sick. She became, to adopt her own phrase, _serva e schiava de'
servi di Gesù Cristo_. "Catherine," writes the best of her modern
biographers, "possessed of that magnificent gift, the perfection of
faith, beheld in each poor sufferer to whom she ministered nothing less
than the person of her Lord. She sought Him then in the streets and
broadways of her native city, and she found Him in the hospitals of the
lepers, and wherever sickness had assumed its most terrible and
repulsive forms."[18] Her ecstatic trances grew more prolonged, her
wondrous visions more continuous; she suffered intolerable pains in all
her frame, and appears gradually to have come to live without
nourishment of ordinary food and drink. All that approached her were
struck by her mirthfulness and never-failing bright spirits; "ella è
sempre lieta e ridente," wrote one that saw her. The Benincasa were
prosperous then, and her father allowed Catherine to dispense to the
poor, at her own discretion, all that was in his house. But Giacomo died
in 1368, and in the revolution of the following year his family suffered
heavily. The three sons only saved their lives by the intervention of
their sister, who led them in safety, through an armed mob of their
enemies, to take refuge in the Spedale on the opposite hill. Shortly
after, the three left Siena for Florence, where they became Florentine
citizens.
The same year that her brothers left Siena, 1370, marks an epoch in
Catherine's life. "Do you not see, father," she said to Frate Tommaso
della Fonte, "that I am no longer she who I was, but that I am changed
into another?" Praying as usual in the Cappella delle Volte in San
Domenico, her Divine Spouse had appeared to her in vision, and drawn
forth her heart from her side, placing His own, _uno cuore rubicundo e
lucidissimo_, therein instead. Meditating upon the Passion, she began to
endure in her body and in her soul what Christ had endured for man. A
little later she seemed to be dying, or actually dead. In this
suspension of her life or mystical death--call it what you will--she
beheld the spiritual lives of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, and was
bidden to return to the world, to convince it of sin and error, to warn
it of impending peril. "The salvation of many souls demands thy return,"
said the voice of the Divine Spouse in her heart, "nor shalt thou any
longer keep that way of life that up to now thou hast kept. No longer
shalt thou have thy cell for dwelling-place; nay, thou shalt go forth
from thy own city for the utility of souls. I shall be ever with thee: I
shall guide thee, and lead thee. Thou shalt bear the honour of My name,
and shalt give spiritual teaching to small and great, to the laity no
less than to clerics and religious; for I shall give thee such speech
and wisdom that no one shall be able to resist. I shall bring thee even
before Pontiffs and before the rulers of the Church and of the Christian
people, to the end that, as is my wont, I may by means of the weak
confound the pride of the strong."[19]
Henceforth her work was done in the light of the world. Incorrigible
sinners, like that _singolare ribaldo_ Andrea di Naddino Bellanti, were
moved to repentance by her prayers; felons, dying in torments under
the
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
ST CATHERINE OF SIENA
(ANDREA DI VANNI)]
red-hot pincers of the executioners (_attanagliati_ in the horrible
phrase of the epoch), turned their despairing blasphemies to words of
joy and comfort; fierce faction leaders, like Giacomo Tolomei, laid
aside their fury and went humbly to confession. When the pestilence
raged in Siena in 1374 and many fled the city, Catherine was foremost in
tending the stricken, in encouraging the dying, preparing them for
death, even burying them with her own hands. "Never," writes one of her
friends, "did she appear more admirable than at this time."
Gradually a little band of followers and disciples, of both sexes,
gathered round her. At first these were mainly Dominican friars, headed
by Frate Tommaso della Fonte, her confessor and a friend of her father's
family, and Frate Tommaso Nacci Caffarini, who wrote the beautiful book
known as the _Leggenda minore_; and, a little later, the famous Frate
Raimondo delle Vigne da Capua, a strenuous labourer in God's vineyard
and a man of apostolic spirit, who succeeded Frate Tommaso della Fonte
as her confessor, and wrote the famous life of her, the _Leggenda_, of
which Caffarini's book is in the main an abridgement. There were devout
women too, who robed themselves in the same black and white habit of
penance, some of them from the noblest families of Siena: Alessia
Saracini and Francesca Gori, the two whom we see with her in Bazzi's
frescoes; several of the Tolomei; and, later, Lisa, the widow of
Catherine's brother Bartolommeo. Presently there were added to these
several young men of noble birth, who acted as her secretaries and
legates, united to her by what seems a wonderful blending of religious
enthusiasm and spiritualised affection: Neri di Landoccio de'
Pagliaresi, a scholar and poet; Francesco Malavolti, a somewhat unstable
youth who at first relapsed at times into his former worldly life, and
whom she recalled to herself in one of her sweetest and most
affectionate epistles, addressing him as "carissimo e sopracarissimo
figliuolo in Cristo dolce Gesù;" Stefano Maconi, who headed a furious
feud of his family against the Tolomei and Rinaldini, until converted by
her to be the most beloved son of all her spiritual family, and
ultimately the sainted prior of the Certosa of Pavia.
One famous episode of this epoch in her life has been perpetuated in a
letter of Catherine's own, that is one of the masterpieces of Italian
literature, and in a famous fresco of Bazzi's. A young nobleman of
Perugia, Niccolò di Toldo, attached to the household of the Senator of
Siena, was sentenced to be beheaded for some rash words against the
government of the Riformatori. In his prison he abandoned himself to
desperation and despair--he was a mere youth, thus doomed to death in
the flower of his age--refused to see priest or friar, would make no
preparation for his end. Then Catherine came to him in his dungeon. Let
her own words that she wrote to Frate Raimondo tell what followed:--
"I went to visit him of whom you know; whereby he received so great
comfort and consolation that he confessed and disposed himself right
well. And he made me promise by the love of God that, when the time for
the execution came, I would be with him. And so I promised and did.
Then, in the morning, before the bell tolled, I went to him; and he
received great consolation. I took him to hear Mass; and he received the
Holy Communion, which he had never received again.[20] His will was
attuned and subjected to the will of God; and there alone remained a
fear of not being brave at the last moment. But the boundless and
flaming bounty of God passed his expectation, creating in him so great
affection and love in the desire of God, that he could not stay without
Him, saying: 'Stay with me, and do not leave me. So shall I fare not
otherwise than well; and I die content.' And he laid his head upon my
breast. Then I felt an exultation and an odour of his blood and of mine
too, which I desired to shed for the sweet spouse Jesus. And as the
desire increased in my soul and I felt his fear, I said: 'Take comfort,
my sweet brother; for soon shall we come to the nuptials. Thither shalt
thou go, bathed in the sweet blood of the Son of God, with the sweet
name of Jesus, the which I would not that it ever leave thy memory. And
I am waiting for thee at the place of execution.' Now, think, father and
son, that his heart then lost all fear, and his face was transformed
from sadness into joy; and he rejoiced, exulted and said: 'Whence cometh
to me so great grace, that the sweetness of my soul will await me at the
holy place of execution?' See how he had come to such light that he
called the place of execution holy! And he said, 'I shall go all joyous
and strong; and it will seem to me a thousand years before I come there,
when I think that you are awaiting me there.' And he uttered words of
such sweetness of the bounty of God, that one might scarce endure it."
She waited for him at the place of execution, with continual prayer, in
the spiritual presence of Mary and of the virgin martyr Catherine. She
knelt down and laid her own head upon the block, either dreaming of
martyrdom or to make herself one in spirit with him at the dread moment.
She besought Mary to give him light and peace of heart, and that she
herself might see him return to God. Her soul, she says, was so full
that, although there was a multitude of the people there, she could not
see a creature.
"Then he came, like a meek lamb; and, when he saw me, he began to smile;
and he would have me make the sign of the Cross over him. When he had
received the sign, I said: 'Up to the nuptials, sweet brother mine! for
soon shalt thou be in the eternal life.' He placed himself down with
great meekness; and I stretched out his neck and bent down over him, and
reminded him of the Blood of the Lamb. His mouth said nought, save
_Jesus_ and _Catherine_. And, as he spoke so, I received his head into
my hands, fixing my eyes upon the Divine Goodness and saying, 'I am
willing.'"
As she knelt with the severed head in her hands, her white robe all
crimsoned over with his blood, Catherine had one of those mystical
visions which she can only tell in terms of blood and fire. She saw the
soul received by its Maker, and saw it, in the first tasting of the
divine sweetness, turn back to thank her. "Then did my soul repose in
peace and in quiet, in so great an odour of blood, that I could not bear
to free myself from the blood that had come upon me from him. Alas!
wretched miserable woman that I am, I will say no more. I remained upon
the earth with very great envy."[21]
Gradually we find Catherine becoming a power in her own city, a factor
in the turbulent politics of Italy, a counsellor in what a sixteenth
century Pope was to call the Game of the World. She dictates epistles,
full of wise counsels, to the rulers of the Republic--to her "dearest
brothers and temporal lords," the Fifteen, Lords Defenders of the city
of Siena, to her "most reverend and most dear father and son" the
Podestà, or to her "dearest brother in Christ sweet Jesus," the Senator.
At Rocca d'Orcia--the chief fortress of the Salimbeni--she reconciles
the rival branches of that great clan with each other, makes peace
between the head of the House, her friend Agnolino (the son of the great
Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni) and his factious kinsman Cione. While
staying at the Rocca, she appears to have learnt to write--it is said by
a miracle.[22] Be that as it may, the greater part at least of her
extant letters (and, so far as the knowledge of the present writer
extends, all those of which the original autographs have been
preserved), were dictated to her secretaries. We possess nearly four
hundred of them, these epistles "al nome di Gesù Cristo crocifisso e di
Maria dolce," written--to use her own phrase--"in the precious blood of
Christ" to persons of both sexes, and of every condition of life from
the King of France and the Roman Pontiff to a humble Florentine tailor,
from the Queens of Naples and Hungary to a courtesan in Perugia. Her
philosophy is simple, but profound: strip yourself of self-love, enter
into the Cell of Self-Knowledge--that is the key to it. And all alike,
in appearance at least, pause to listen to her inspired voice, bow
before her virginal will.
There is grim war preparing between Pope Gregory XI., in his luxurious
exile at Avignon, and the tyrant of Milan, Bernabò Visconti. To the
Cardinal Legate of Bologna, who is to direct the campaign, she writes:
"Strive to the utmost of your power to bring about the peace and the
union of all the country. And in this holy work, if it were necessary to
give up the life of the body, it should be given a thousand times, if it
were possible. Peace, peace, peace, dearest father! Do you and the
others consider, and make the Holy Father think of the loss of souls
rather than the loss of cities; for God requires souls rather than
cities."[23] Bernabò and his wife Beatrice each send ambassadors on
their own account to gain her ear. To the tyrant she writes of the law
of love, of the vanity of earthly lordship in comparison with the
lordship of the city of the soul, of the necessity of submission to the
Head of the Church, "the Vicar who holds the keys of the blood of Christ
crucified."[24] She bids the proud lady of Lombardy robe herself with
the robe of burning Charity and make herself the means and instrument
to reconcile her husband "with Christ sweet Jesus, and with His Vicar,
Christ on earth."[25] Her prayers are effectual, and a truce is
proclaimed. The Vicar Apostolic in the Papal States writes to her for
counsel in the name of the Pope. She bids him destroy the nepotism and
luxury that are ruining the Church. Better than labouring for the
temporalities of the Church would it be to strive to put down "the
wolves and incarnate demons of pastors, who attend to nought else save
eating and fine palaces and stout horses. Alas! that what Christ won
upon the wood of the Cross should be squandered with harlots."[26] Then
comes the news that the Sovereign Pontiff is meditating a crusade. She
throws herself heart and soul into the undertaking. She addresses Queen
Giovanna of Naples, the Queen Regent of Hungary and many other princes,
all of whom answer favourably and promise men and money. She cherishes
the design of freeing Italy from the mercenary companies, and sends
Frate Raimondo to the camp of Sir John Hawkwood, with a letter urging
the great English condottiere and his soldiers to leave the service and
the pay of the devil, to fight no more against Christians but "take the
pay and the Cross of Christ crucified, with all your followers and
companions, so that you may be a company of Christ to go against those
infidel dogs who possess our holy place, where the first sweet Verity
reposed and sustained death and torment for us."[27] It is said that
Hawkwood and his captains, before the Friar left them, swore upon the
Sacrament and gave him a signed declaration that, when once the crusade
was actually started, they would go.
In February 1375, Catherine left Siena for Pisa, charged with
negotiations on the Pope's behalf with the latter republic. Here she
stayed, with a band of her disciples, some months, so enfeebled with
continual ecstasies that they thought her at the point of death. Here,
on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, she is said to have received the
Stigmata--the wounds of Christ's Passion--in her body, in the little
church of Santa Cristina on the Lungarno. Be this as it may, a new epoch
in her life begins at this date--the epoch of her two great struggles
for the Church and for Italy.
Since Clement V. removed the papal chair to France in 1305, the Popes
had resided at Avignon. Their court had become a scandal to Christendom;
Rome was abandoned to ruin and ravage. Previously to this date, the
temporal sovereignty of the Popes had been little more than a nominal
suzerainty over the cities of the Papal States, many of which were
either swayed by petty despots or governed themselves as free republics.
But now things were changing. While the Roman Pontiffs remained beyond
the Alps, their legates were attempting to fuse these various elements
into a modern State. At the head of foreign mercenaries they were
subjugating city after city, and building fortresses to secure their
hold. Florence, though forming no part of the Papal States, saw her
liberties threatened. The refusal of the Legate of Bologna, although he
had letters to the contrary from the Pope, to allow corn to be sent from
his province into Tuscany in time of famine--followed, as it was, by the
appearance of Hawkwood in the territories of the Republic--precipitated
matters. War broke out in the latter part of 1375. The Florentines
appointed a new magistracy, the Eight of the War, to carry it on, and
sent a banner, upon which was _Libertas_ in white letters on a red
field, round to all the cities, offering aid in men and money to any who
would rise against the Church. Città di Castello began; Perugia
followed; and in a few days all central Italy was in arms against the
Temporal Power. "It seemed," wrote a contemporary, "that the Papal
States were like a wall built without mortar; when one stone was taken
away, almost all the rest fell in ruins." The republics of Siena and
Arezzo promptly entered the league; Pisa and Lucca wavered. Conciliatory
overtures from the Pope, who offered to leave Città di Castello and
Perugia in liberty and to make further concessions for the sake of
peace, were cut short by the expulsion of the Papal Legate from Bologna.
Florence was solemnly placed under the interdict, and an army of
ferocious Breton soldiers taken into the pay of the Church, under the
command of the Cardinal Robert of Geneva, for the reconquest of the
Papal States.
Even at this moment the more moderate spirits on either side looked to
the dyer's daughter of Siena for light and guidance. Her eloquent
appeal--which has fortunately been preserved to us--secured the
neutrality of Lucca and Pisa.[28] Her whole heart was set upon the
reconciliation of the Pope with Italy, to be followed by the return of
the Holy See to Rome, and a complete reformation of the Church. She
addressed letter after letter to the Sovereign Pontiff, calling him
_dolcissimo babbo mio_, claiming to write "to the most sweet Christ on
earth on behalf of the Christ in Heaven." The wickedness and cruel
oppression of evil pastors and governors have caused this war. Let him
win back his little rebellious sheep by love and benignity to the fold
of the Church. Let him uplift the gonfalone of the most holy Cross, and
he will see the wolves become lambs. Let him utterly extirpate these
pastors and rulers, these poisonous flowers in the garden of the Church,
full of impurity and cupidity, puffed up with pride, and reform her with
good pastors and governors "who shall be true servants of Jesus Christ,
who shall look to nought but the honour of God and the salvation of
souls, and shall be fathers of the poor." The Divine Providence has
permitted the loss of states and worldly goods, "as though to show that
He wished that Holy Church should return to its primal state of poverty,
humility, and meekness, as she was in that holy time, when they attended
to nought save to the honour of God and the salvation of souls, caring
only for spiritual things and not for temporal." Let him come
straightway to Rome, "like a meek lamb, using only the arms of the
virtue of love, thinking only of the care of spiritual things;" for God
calls him "to come to hold and possess the place of the glorious
shepherd St Peter." He may claim that he is bound to recover and
preserve the treasure and the lordships of the cities that the Church
has lost; far more greatly is he bound to win back so many "little
sheep, who are a treasure in the Church." Let him choose between the
temporal power and the salvation of souls; let him win back his children
in peace, and he will surely have what is due to him. He can conquer
only with benignity and mildness, humility and patience. "Keep back the
soldiers that you have hired, and suffer them not to come." Let him come
as soon as possible, _come uomo virile e senza alcun timore_; but "look
to it that you come not with a power of armed men, but with the Cross in
your hand, like a meek lamb."[29] But to the Signoria of Florence she
wrote in another strain: "You know well that Christ left us His vicar,
and He left him for the cure of our souls; for in nought else can we
have salvation, save in the mystical body of Holy Church, whose head is
Christ and we are the members. And whoso shall be disobedient to Christ
on earth, who is in the place of Christ in Heaven, shareth not in the
fruit of the blood of the Son of God; for God hath ordained that from
his hands we have communion, and are given this blood and all the
sacraments of Holy Church, which receive life from that blood. And we
cannot go by another way nor enter by another gate." "I tell you that
God wills and has commanded so, that even if Christ on earth were an
incarnate demon, much less a good and benign father, we must be subject
and obedient to him, not for his own sake, but in obedience to God, as
he is the vicar of Christ." Let them hasten to the arms of their father,
who will receive them benignly, and there will be peace and repose,
spiritually and temporally for all Tuscany, and the war will be directed
against the Infidels under the banner of the Cross. "If anything can be
done through me that may be to the honour of God and the union of
yourselves with the holy Church, I am prepared to give my life, if need
be."[30]
Catherine had already sent first Neri di Landoccio and then Frate
Raimondo to the Pope, and she herself was summoned to Florence. This was
in May 1376. This pale _estatica_, who was believed to live solely upon
the consecrated Host of the Blessed Sacrament, and who seemed already of
the other world, was bidden by the Signoria and the Eight to plead their
cause before the Sovereign Pontiff. In June she reached Avignon--that
city of luxury and corruption, that _nido di tradimenti_ upon which
Petrarch had invoked the rain of fire from heaven. The Pope received her
graciously. "In order that thou mayest see clearly that I desire peace,"
he said, "I put it absolutely into thy hands; but be careful of the
honour of the Church." The embassy was a complete failure; the
Florentines threw her over contemptuously. No trace of personal
resentment was seen in the saint, and she continued to intercede for
them with the Pope, to whom she spoke plainly concerning the infamy of
the place in which he stayed, and the corruption of the Roman Curia,
until even Frate Raimondo was astounded
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
LETTER FROM ST CATHERINE TO STEFANO MACONI
(Dictated by her to BARDUCCIO CANIGIANI)]
at her temerity. In one respect she was more successful. Her impassioned
pleading overcame the pusillanimity of Gregory, and in September he left
Avignon for Rome. Catherine--in spite of the paintings that you may
still see in Rome and Siena--did not accompany him to the Eternal City.
She met him again at Genoa, where her indomitable will prevailed over
the counsels of the Cardinals, and prevented him from turning back. Then
he went on his way, and she saw him no more.
At Genoa, many of her company fell sick. Neri di Landoccio was despaired
of by the physicians and Stefano Maconi seemed dying. Both believed that
their spiritual mistress and mother healed them miraculously. Seldom did
Catherine seem sweeter and more loving than at this time, watching by
the bedside of her young disciples, comforting Monna Lapa by letter for
her delay, for "with desire have I desired to see you my true mother,
not only of my body but also of my soul."[31] And to her "dearest sister
and daughter in Christ Jesus," Monna Giovanna Maconi, the mother of her
Stefano, she writes: "Take comfort sweetly and be patient, and do not be
troubled, because I have kept Stefano too long; for I have taken good
care of him. Through love and affection I have become one thing with
him, and therefore have I taken what is yours as though it were mine. I
am certain that you have not really been distressed at it. For you and
for him I would fain labour even unto death, in all that I shall be
able. You, mother, have given birth to him once; and I would fain give
birth to him and you and all your family in tears and in toil, by
continual prayers and desire of your salvation."[32] She was back at
Siena in November, sending another of her flaming letters to Gregory,
who had reached Corneto on his way to Rome, exhorting him to constancy,
fortitude and patience, urging him to obtain peace by making
concessions, recommending her native city to him. "I have no other
desire in this life save to see the honour of God, your peace and the
reformation of Holy Church, and to see the life of grace in every
creature that hath reason in itself."[33]
In January 1377, the Pope made his solemn entry into the Eternal City,
received with a perfect delirium of joy by nobles and people alike. Then
a thrill of horror ran through Italy. The papal forces--the Breton
mercenaries of the Cardinal Robert, with the English companies of
Hawkwood--burst into Cesena, butchering men, women, and children,
committing hideous atrocities of every kind that cannot be set down in
this place. The Pope is said to have kept silence. One more affectionate
letter did St Catherine write to him in her own familiar style, pleading
for peace and the reformation of the Church. Then he turned against her.
"Most holy Father," she wrote to him through Raimondo, "to whom shall I
have recourse, if you abandon me? Who will aid me? to whom shall I fly,
if you drive me away? If you abandon me, conceiving displeasure and
indignation against me, I will hide myself in the wounds of Christ
crucified, whose vicar you are, and I know that He will receive me,
because He wills not the death of the sinner. And if He receives me, you
will not drive me away; rather shall we stay in our place to fight
manfully with the arms of virtue for the sweet Spouse of Christ."[34]
Her last extant letter to Gregory, pleading for peace with the Italians
and for the punishment "of the pastors and officers of the Church when
they do what they should not do," recommending to him the ambassadors of
Siena who came to treat for the restitution of Talamone, which the papal
troops had occupied, is in a colder and more formal tone.[35] Other
sorrows came upon her. The Sienese distrusted her intimacy with the
Salimbeni, accusing her and Frate Raimondo (_poverello calunniato_, as
she called him) of plotting, whereas she declared that the only
conspiracy in which she was engaged was for the discomfiture and
overthrow of the devil. One of her own disciples conceived a guilty
passion for her and fled from her circle, writing that he had become a
vessel of contumely, that he was now "cut off, extinguished and blotted
out of the book in which I felt myself so sweetly fed."
Once more, early in 1378, did Catherine go to Florence to labour in the
cause of peace. She addressed the Signoria in a solemn meeting in the
Palazzo Vecchio, and induced them to meet the Pope half way by
respecting the interdict. "The dawn is come at last," she cried
exultingly: _l'aurora è venuta_. And she prevailed upon the captains of
the Parte Guelfa to offer a firm resistance to the war policy of the
Eight, while endeavouring, through Stefano Maconi, to prevent them from
abusing the power that their right of "admonishing" put into their
hands. She was still in Florence when Gregory died, and the Archbishop
of Bari, Bartolommeo Prignani, was elected Pope amidst the furious
clamours of the Roman populace, as Urban VI. To him Catherine wrote at
once, in the same way as she had done to Gregory, urging him to check
the corruption and wickedness of the clergy, to make good Cardinals, to
receive the Florentines back into the fold of the Church, and above all
(for she knew something of the character of the man with whom she had
now to deal) to take his stand upon true and perfect Charity.[36] A few
weeks later the terrible rising of the populace, known as the Tumult of
the Ciompi, burst over Florence. The adherents of St Catherine, as
associated with the hated Parte Guelfa, were specially obnoxious to the
mob, and her own life was threatened. A band of armed men came into the
garden where she knelt in prayer, crying out that they would cut her to
pieces. She prepared for martyrdom as for a joyous feast, and wept
bitterly when she was left unharmed, declaring that the multitude of her
sins had prevented her from being suffered to shed her blood for Christ.
She wrote in this strain to Frate Raimondo, saying that she would begin
a new life that day, in order that these sins of hers might no longer
withdraw her from the grace of martyrdom; her only fear was lest what
had happened might in some way influence the Pope against a speedy
peace.[37] At the end of July peace was signed; Florence and the other
cities of Tuscany were to be reconciled to the Holy See, and Catherine
returned to Siena. "Oh, dearest children," she wrote, "God has heard the
cry and the voice of His servants, that for so long a time have cried
out in His sight, and the wailing that for so long they have raised over
their children dead. Now are they risen again; from death are they come
to life, and from blindness to light. Oh, dearest children, the lame
walk and the deaf hear, the blind eye sees, and the dumb speak, crying
with loudest voice: Peace, peace, peace! with great gladness, seeing
those children returning to the obedience and favour of the father, and
their minds pacified. And, even as persons who now begin to see, they
say: Thanks be to Thee, Lord, who hast reconciled us with our holy
Father. Now is the Lamb called holy, the sweet Christ on earth, where
before he was called heretic and patarin. Now do they accept him as
father, where hitherto they rejected him. I wonder not thereat; for the
cloud has passed away and the serene weather has come."[38]
Not long did _il tempo sereno_ hold. While it lasted Catherine remained
quietly at Siena, dictating to her secretaries, Neri, Stefano, and a
certain Barduccio Canigiani (a young nobleman who had joined her
spiritual family at Florence), her book--the famous _Dialogue_. It
consists of four mystical treatises on Discretion, Prayer, Divine
Providence, and Obedience, in the form of a dialogue between God and a
soul "panting with greatest desire for the honour of God and the
salvation of souls." This Dialogue and her Letters represent St
Catherine's literary work.[39] It was finished in October. Already the
tempest had burst upon the Church, of which the first rumblings had been
heard during her stay at Florence, and Catherine was now to be summoned
to Rome to fight her last great battle.
Urban VI. had a high reputation for zeal and virtue; he was, in
addition, a good Italian. From the outset he announced his intention of
reforming the Roman Court, of extirpating simony and luxury in the
Church. "They say," the Prior of the Certosa of Gorgona had written to
Catherine on the first news of his elevation, "that this our Holy Father
is a terrible man, and frightens people exceedingly with his acts and
his words." The abrupt violence with which he began his work enraged and
alarmed all the Curia, and within a few months of his election he was
left alone. The French Cardinals fled to Anagni, and took the Breton
mercenaries into their pay. When the Pope nominated twenty-six new
cardinals, they held a conclave at Fondi, and, on the plea that the
election of Urban had been extorted by force and fear of the Roman mob,
and was therefore invalid, they raised the infamous Cardinal Robert of
Geneva to the Popedom as Clement VII. All Christendom was now divided in
its spiritual allegiance between two men, each claiming to be the Vicar
of the Prince of Peace; any earthly prince would have dismissed the one
with ignominy from his service, the other was soon to fall hopelessly
and shamefully from his fair beginning.
But Catherine believed passionately in Urban, threw herself heart and
soul into the struggle. "I have heard," she wrote to him, "that the
incarnate demons have raised up an Antichrist against you, Christ on
earth; but I confess and do not deny that you are the Vicar of Christ,
that you hold the keys of the cellar of Holy Church, where the blood of
the Immaculate Lamb is kept."[40] And in the twenty months of life that
remained to her she battled for him to the death. Letter after letter
did she send to him, full of evangelic counsels, urging him--in the
boldest possible language--to begin the reform of the Church in his own
person. Savonarola himself hardly surpasses the passion of her invective
against the corruption of the ecclesiastical world. Urban is at first
offended by her frankness, rebukes her messengers, and will not listen
to her. Then his heart is touched, and he summons her to Rome. "Pray for
me," she writes to Suor Daniella, a nun of Orvieto, "to the supreme
eternal goodness of God, that He may do with me what shall be to His
honour and the salvation of souls; and especially now that I am to go to
Rome, to accomplish the will of Christ crucified and of His Vicar."
Catherine reached the Eternal City at the end of November 1378, with a
band of her disciples of both sexes, including Alessia, Francesca and
Lisa, Neri di Landoccio and Barduccio Canigiani. Stefano Maconi remained
at Siena, but Frate Raimondo was already in Rome. The city was in a
parlous state. Sant' Angelo was held by the soldiery of the Antipope,
who kept Urban out of the Vatican; the Breton mercenaries threatened the
gates, and there were savage tumults in the streets. Urban would have
Catherine address his new cardinals assembled in the Consistory, after
which he "praised her much in the Lord." In these first few months of
his pontificate, while she yet lived, he seemed an utterly different man
to what he afterwards became. He realised to the full the moral value of
her support, and would not suffer her to leave Rome. On his behalf she
dispatched fiery epistles all over Europe, declaring that he alone was
the true Pope, the Vicar of Christ. To simple nuns she wrote imploring
them to storm Heaven with prayers for his cause; to monks and hermits,
bidding them leave their cells and convents, rally round the Sovereign
Pontiff in the Eternal City, or do battle for him in the haunts and
abodes of men. "Ye fools," she wrote to the three Italian Cardinals who
were striving to remain neutral, "fools, worthy of a thousand
deaths"--but the epistle must be read in its entirety, for it is one of
the most amazing documents of the epoch.[41] Other epistles secured the
adhesion of the Republics of Siena and Florence, of Venice and Perugia.
To the Queen of Naples, as chief supporter of Clement (whom she
presently received as Sovereign Pontiff on his way to Avignon), she
pleads Urban's cause with calm reason, turning off the arrows of her
words to strike the hostile Cardinals; and in like manner to Onorato
Gaetani, Count of Fondi, who had protected the schismatic conclave with
his hired troops. "Where is the just man that they have elected for
Antipope," she writes again to the Queen of Naples, "if in very sooth
our supreme pontiff, Pope Urban VI., were not true Vicar of Christ? What
man have they chosen? A man of holy life? No: a man of iniquity, a
demon; and therefore he does the office of the devils."[42] In December
the adherents of the Antipope were lying in wait to take Frate Raimondo,
whom the Pope was sending on a dangerous mission to France, and the good
friar's courage failed him. Catherine, with her mystic longings for
shedding her blood for the cause, was amazed at his pusillanimity, and
sent him letters of characteristic remonstrance, reminding him that he
need have no fear, because he was not worthy of the grace of martyrdom,
exhorting him to be a man and not a woman, laying all the blame on
herself (as she invariably does in her severest letters), pleading love
as her excuse for rebuking him.
In the meanwhile Urban had hired the Italian mercenaries of the Company
of St George, commanded by Count Alberico da Balbiano. On April 29th
Alberico gained a complete victory over the Breton and Gascon soldiery
of the Clementines at Marino, and the French governor of Sant' Angelo
surrendered to the Senator of Rome, Giovanni Cenci. Catherine is
said--and a passage in one of her letters seems to confirm it--to have
been the means of effecting the surrender. At her instigation the Pope
went barefooted from Santa Maria in Trastevere to San Pietro in solemn
procession, to give thanks before returning to take up his abode in the
Vatican--an act of humility that aroused astonishment (strange
reflection on the pomp of the Curia!) as something that had not been
seen for ages. To the magistrates of the Roman Republic she wrote a
letter on behalf of the victorious soldiery, which Tommaseo
characterises as "worthy of the name of Rome."[43] Then, flushed with
victory, she addresses the King of France, in hopes that he may still be
won over; she makes one more flaming, impassioned appeal to the Queen of
Naples, and then--sole blot, I think, in all this blameless
life--co-operates with Urban, in her letters to the King Louis and his
cousin, Charles of Durazzo, in his attempt to raise the power of Hungary
and Poland upon Giovanna's head.[44] Her last extant letter to Urban
himself is to urge him to adopt a mild and generous policy towards the
Roman People. "You must surely know," she says, "the character of your
Roman children, how they are drawn and bound more by gentleness than by
any violence or by harshness of words; and you know, too, the great
necessity that is yours and Holy Church's, of preserving this people in
obedience and reverence to your Holiness; for here is the head and the
beginning of our faith."[45] A furious riot broke out at the beginning
of 1380. The Roman populace rose in arms and assailed the Vatican,
threatening the Pope's life. Catherine interposed and stilled the
tumult. This was her last public action.
[Illustration: _St Catherine's Lamp_]
She was spared the sight of Urban's fall, and was not doomed to witness
the shame, the blood and the madness in which "her most sweet Christ on
earth" ended his unhappy pontificate. Fearful visions of demons began to
assail her, mingling with the celestial visitations of her Divine
Spouse. Her bodily sufferings became unendurable. She cried to God to
receive the sacrifice of her life in the mystical body of the Church.
Praying in San Pietro on Sexagesima Sunday, it seemed to her that the
_Navicella_--the Ship of the Church--was laid upon her shoulders, and
that it crushed her to death. The few weeks of life that remained to
her were one prolonged martyrdom, out of which we have her last
letter[46]--written on February 15th, 1380--her farewell to Frate
Raimondo, full of mystical exultation in her own sufferings, _tanti
dolci tormenti corporali_. But all who approached her wondered at the
tranquillity and the sweetness with which she spoke, and "albeit she was
excessively afflicted in her body, her face remained always angelical
and devout with a holy gladness."
At last on April 29th, 1380, the Sunday before the Ascension, she passed
away, surrounded by her spiritual family and leaning upon Alessia
Saracini, uttering "certain most profound things," writes Barduccio,
"which because of my sins I was not worthy to understand."[47] To
Stefano Maconi, who had hastened from Siena to stand by her side; to
Monna Lapa, who had taken the habit like her daughter and
daughter-in-law; and to each of the others, she gave a separate charge
as to their mode of life after she should be dead. "And she prayed with
such great affection that not only our hearts as we listened, but the
very stones could have been broken. Finally, making the sign of the
Cross, she blessed us all; and so to the last and most desired end of
life she drew near, persevering in continual prayer and saying: 'Thou,
Lord, dost call me, and I come to Thee; I come not through my own
merits, but through Thy mercy alone, the which mercy I ask from Thee in
virtue of Thy blood.' And then, many times, she cried: _Sangue, sangue!_
At last, after the example of the Saviour, she said: 'Father, into Thy
hands I commend my soul and spirit.' And so, sweetly, with her face all
angelical and glowing, she bowed her head and gave up her spirit."
CHAPTER III
_The People and the Petrucci_
After the expulsion of the Riformatori in March 1385, a new supreme
magistracy was instituted to rule the Republic. It was composed of ten
citizens--the "Signori Priori, Governatori della Città di Siena"--who
held office for two months. Four of these priors were of the Nine, four
of the Twelve, and two of the People. A new order--the _Monte del
Popolo_--was formed to include those plebeians, or Popolani of the
Greater Number, who had not shared in the government of the Riformatori;
and it gradually rose in importance, reinforced in later years by
families of nobles who became _popolani_ and by others of the lower
classes who had come to Siena from elsewhere.
A turbulent and unsettled period followed, of incessant plots against
the new government and of disastrous wars. In November 1385, Siena
joined in a league, offensive and defensive, with the Communes of
Bologna, Florence, Pisa and Lucca, against the wandering companies of
mercenaries. But presently that never-healed wound, the question of
Montepulciano, opened again, and a prolonged war with Florence followed
in consequence. Both Cortona and Montepulciano were lost to Siena. In
1389 the Sienese allied themselves for ten years with Giovanni Galeazzo
Visconti, who had dethroned his uncle Bernabò and was now manifestly
intending to conquer all northern and central Italy. A Sienese poet,
Simone di Ser Dino Forestani ("il Saviozzo") hailed him as the coming
deliverer of the Italian nation in a noted canzone, which Carducci has
called the last cry of Ghibellinism. A number of the Malavolti and
Tolomei, headed by Messer Orlando Malavolti, chose exile in the
following years rather than see their country fall into servitude.
Giovanni Galeazzo was created Duke of Milan by the Emperor Wenceslaus in
1395; and, when the end of the term of the alliance drew near, the
Sienese found themselves so exhausted with war, famine and pestilence
that in 1399 they formally surrendered the independence of their city,
with its contado and district, to the Duke and his successors, swore
obedience and fidelity to him in the persons of his ambassadors, and
hailed their new yoke with wild festivities. The Duke died in 1402; he
had just taken Bologna and intended, as soon as Florence fell into his
hands, to be crowned King of Italy. His newly acquired dominions fell to
pieces. In November 1403, the Salimbeni (who, in opposition to the
Malavolti and Tolomei, had been among the foremost in introducing the
ducal sovereignty into Siena) and the heads of the Dodicini, probably
instigated by the Florentines, called the Sienese to arms to recover
their liberty. The Noveschi and People opposed them. There was a
struggle in the Campo, an attempt to capture the Palazzo; but Francesco
Salimbeni was killed and the Dodicini expelled from the government. In
the following year the liberation of Siena was peaceably effected. Peace
was made with Florence in April, and, the ducal lieutenant having left
the city, the Sienese annulled the suzerainty and all the authority that
had been given to the Duke of Milan and his successors, and commanded
that his arms, wherever they had been set up in the dominions of the
Republic, should be completely obliterated. But Orlando Malavolti
returned to his native city only to die. On his way to salute the
Signoria he was treacherously murdered in the streets by the hirelings
of those who had seized upon his possessions, which they hoped thus to
keep in their hands.
[Illustration: THE MANGIA TOWER]
In the meantime the form of the chief magistracy had undergone various
alterations. Not only had the Dodicini been expelled, but the
Riformatori had been readmitted. It now consisted of nine Priors, three
of the Monte del Popolo, three of the Monte de' Nove, and three of the
Monte de' Riformatori; with a tenth, the Captain of the People and
Gonfaloniere of Justice, chosen from each Monte and from each terzo of
the city in turn. But throughout the period that follows, and indeed
down to the end of the Republic, we shall find the real authority vested
in what was known as the _Balìa_. This originally simply meant the power
or authority committed to certain citizens for some special purpose; but
it gradually became converted into an ordinary magistracy, distinct from
the Signoria or _Concistoro_. From 1455--when it was specially
instituted in this form to superintend a prolonged and dangerous
war--until the fall of the Republic, the _Collegio di Balìa_ had the
supreme control of the State, with authority over the laws and
government of Siena, although the outward appearances of supremacy were
left to the Signoria, the members of which (the _Signori_) were still,
nominally, the chief magistrates of the Republic.
The first three-quarters of the fifteenth century in the history of
Siena are a medley of somewhat inglorious wars with incessant faction.
We find Siena allied with Florence against King Ladislaus of Naples (the
son of Charles of Durazzo), then at war with Florence again, then allied
with Pope Calixtus III. against the great condottiere Jacopo Piccinino,
in a war more famous for the stern penalty that the Republic knew how to
exact from a treacherous general than for any action in the field.[48]
There were alarms and excursions from the _fuorusciti_ in the contado;
there were conspiracies within Siena itself, especially one most
formidable in 1456 to subject the Republic to King Alfonso of Naples
(who had substituted an Aragonese dynasty for the House of Anjou in that
kingdom), in which certain families of the Monte de' Nove--headed by
Antonio Petrucci, Ghino di Pietro Bellanti and Marino Bargagli--were
deeply involved. But, all the while, great personalities are moving
across the Sienese stage.
San Bernardino Albizzeschi, born of a noble family in 1380, the year of
St Catherine's death, may be said to have carried on, in part, her work
during the first half of this century. A zealous reformer of morals, for
forty years this Franciscan friar wandered over Italy from city to city,
preaching repentance, healing schisms, rebuking tyrants, stilling the
bloody tumults of political factions, reconciling peoples and princes.
"He converted and changed the minds and spirits of men marvellously,"
writes a contemporary, Vespasiano da Bisticci, "a wondrous power he had
in persuading men to lay aside their mortal hatreds." He has left his
mark upon almost every street of his native city, of which he refused
the bishopric. In a place where he had wrought many conversions, a maker
of dice represented to the saint that he and his fellow-craftsmen were
being reduced to beggary, by reason of his denunciation of gambling.
Bernardino bade him make tablets with the letters I.H.S. instead. This
devotion to the Divine Name grew apace, above all in Ferrara and Siena;
and when, worn out with his apostolic labours, Bernardino died in 1444
at Aquila, there was hardly a town through which he had passed that had
not placed upon its gates and palaces, no less than on the private
houses of its citizens, the sacred sign of the Name in which he had
overcome the world.
A young nobleman stood listening in the Campo when Bernardino preached
there in 1427. "He moved me so much," he wrote in after years, "that I,
too, very nearly entered his order." This was Enea Silvio Piccolomini,
who, born at Corsignano in 1405, was then a student in the city and a
rising poet. Two imperial visits during this epoch have left their mark
in Sienese art. Sigismund III. came to Siena in 1432, on his way to be
crowned in Rome, and stayed some while in the city that then, as ever,
professed unalterable loyalty to the Holy Roman Empire. Memorials of his
visit are the curious graffito picture of him enthroned, on the pavement
of the Duomo, and a most unedifying love story, _De Duobus Amantibus_,
describing an intrigue between one of his barons and a lady of
Siena--written a little later by this same Enea Silvio, who had left his
native city to seek his fortune elsewhere, and was now poet laureate.
Frederick III. came at the beginning of 1452 to meet his bride, Leonora
of Portugal. A fresco in the library of the Duomo and a pillar outside
the Porta Camollia still record the event; and "all the resources of
that festive art in which the Italy of the Renaissance so excelled were
displayed for the entertainment of the noble pair during their stay in
Siena."[49] Our poet laureate was now the Emperor's secretary and the
Bishop of Siena itself. Six years later Enea Silvio Piccolomini was
elected Pope in 1458, to succeed to Calixtus III., and took the title of
Pius II. "Shall we raise a poet to the Chair of St Peter?" asked a rival
cardinal, "and let the Church be governed on pagan principles?"
It will be better to speak of the character and deeds of Pope Pius II.
when we stand before the frescoed story of his life in the Duomo.
Suffice it now to say that there was great festivity and rejoicing when
the news of his elevation reached Siena, but coupled with some mistrust.
The Pope was suspected of being a partisan of the _gentiluomini_, who
were still rigorously excluded from the Signoria, the Balìa, the Council
of the People and all the chief offices of State. To please him, the
Piccolomini were qualified to enter the government (_messi nel
Reggimento_), by being distributed among the three ruling Monti; while
Nanni Todeschini, the
[Illustration:
_Alinari, Florence_
THE ELEVATION OF ENEA SILVIO PICCOLOMINI TO THE PAPACY AS PIUS II
(PINTURICCHIO)]
husband of the Pope's sister Laodamia, together with his four sons,
Antonio, Francesco, Andrea and Giacomo (to whom Pius had given the arms
and name of Piccolomini), was similarly qualified for the Signoria and
Council of the People, and received into the Monte del Popolo. The Pope,
however, demanded that all the nobles should be made eligible to all
posts in the government; he told the Sienese envoys that, unless his
request were granted, he would withhold the favours that he had intended
to confer upon his native city. In spite of the intervention of the Duke
of Milan, the Sienese remained obstinate, until the Pope threatened to
go to Florence without passing through Siena. Then the Balìa yielded in
part, and Pius came to the city in February 1459. He had a magnificent
reception from all orders in the State; but Malavolti tells us that on
the part of the chief men of the Republic the rejoicing was more
simulated than real, for that they bitterly resented his attempted
insertion of the nobles into the popular government of the city.
Nevertheless, during his stay Pius loaded the Sienese with favours, gave
the Golden Rose to the Commune, and raised the See to the rank of an
archbishopric. His attempts to allay the factions and to obtain the
admission of the nobles were only partly successful; and what little
share in the government had been granted to the latter was taken away
from them (exception being still made for the Piccolomini), after his
death in 1464. To this day Siena bears more of the stamp of Pius II.
than of any other single man. Everywhere in her streets the arms of the
Piccolomini are as much in evidence as the sacred monogram that San
Bernardino had set up. The Loggia that Pius raised to his family, the
palaces that his kinsfolk built, still stand, while the Library of the
Duomo gleams still with the gorgeous frescoed pageant of his life. And
away to the south, in the district of Montepulciano, the little village
of Corsignano, where he had been born in 1405, and was transformed by
him into a city, is still called from his name Pienza, and still bears
the imprint of his genial and splendid spirit in the noble buildings,
secular and religious alike, that his munificence reared.
A potentate of a very different character now for a while overshadows
the Republic--Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, son of King Ferrante of Naples.
The Duke meditated the acquisition of all Tuscany, and between 1468 and
1480 he made Siena the basis of his operations. The Republic joined the
King and Pope Sixtus IV. in the war against Lorenzo de' Medici, and had
the one real battle of the campaign of 1479 depicted in fresco in the
Palace of the Commune. Gorgeous pageants and dances greeted the visit of
any member of the Royal House to Siena. The Duke "became the centre of
the extravagant, pleasure-loving Sienese society; and the cruel,
passionate Alfonso, who recognised no scruples in matters human and
divine, became the popular godfather to the babies of the Republic."[50]
There was a strong party within the city itself that would gladly have
accepted him as their suzerain, and he still lingered at Buonconvento
after the peace had been made with Florence. On June 23rd, 1480, the
Noveschi and some of the Monte del Popolo, together with the mercenaries
left by the Duke in charge of the city, occupied the Campo early in the
morning, and expelled the Riformatori from the government. The Duke
returned to Siena the next day, and was received with enthusiasm at the
Porta Romana. There was a wild demonstration in the Campo, as the
people, all armed, with frantic cheering and deafening uproar, brought
him to the Palace. "When he got to the door of the Palace," says
Allegretto, "all the people rejoiced with such sounding of trumpets and
of bells that rang _a gloria_, and with such firing of guns and
shouting, that it was a jubilation." In the place of the suppressed
Monte of the Riformatori, a new Monte of the _Aggregati_ was
formed--composed partly of nobles, partly of those Noveschi who had been
excluded from the government for the conspiracy of 1456, partly of
popolani who had never held the priorate, and to these were added a few
of the Riformatori at the Duke's request. But the capture of Otranto by
the Turks, in August, recalled the Duke to his father's dominions, and
in the following year the decision of King Ferrante (_la iniqua
sentenza_, as Allegretto calls it), compelling the Sienese to surrender
certain towns and castles to the Florentines, destroyed the last
remnants of his popularity.
Seven years of tumult and faction followed the departure of the Duke of
Calabria. The annulling of the new Monte of the Aggregati, the
re-admission of the Riformatori and the Dodicini, were accompanied by a
series of furious battles in the streets. In July 1482 there was a
general rising of the people--Popolani, Dodicini, Riformatori--against
the Noveschi, who, headed by the Bellanti, Petrucci, and Borghesi,
assembled in arms in the Postierla. The Noveschi swept down the Via di
Città, but were hurled back to the Postierla, and their leaders forced
to take refuge in the palaces of the Pecci and Borghesi, which, after a
fierce contest of more than three hours with crossbows and guns and long
lances, surrendered, at the persuasion of the Cardinal Archbishop,
Francesco Piccolomini (the nephew of Pius II.), and the arms were laid
down for a while. It is on this occasion that the name of Pandolfo di
Bartolommeo Petrucci first appears prominently as a leader of the
Noveschi.
At the beginning of 1483 the Balìa was entirely composed of Popolani,
and the Noveschi were deprived "for ever" of any share in the
government. Luzio Bellanti, with a few daring spirits, occupied
Montereggioni, and held it for some weeks against the Republic--which
was made an excuse for arresting the leading Noveschi in Siena. The
Papal Legate, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Cibo (afterwards Innocent
VIII.), came from Rome as a peace-maker; and in March it was decided to
reduce the four Monti to one, "di far di tutto il Reggimento un Monte,"
which should be called the Monte del Popolo, and in which some Noveschi
were to be admitted. But on April 1st a furious mob burst into the
Palace, seized four of the imprisoned Noveschi--Agnolo Petrucci, Biagio
Turchi, and two others--with a plebeian of their faction, and hurled
them out of the windows, to be dashed to pieces on the pavement below.
Disgusted and disillusioned, the Legate at once left the city. The
Noveschi, headed by the Petrucci and Bellanti, together with others of
other orders, at length retired from the territory of the Republic, and
watched for the opportunity of recovering their state by force of arms;
while, on August 7th, the Council of the People carried unanimously a
resolution "that Siena should be given and presented to our Lady."
The exiles had not long to wait. New factions broke out in the city,
with plotting and counter-plotting, rioting and executions. Numbers of
each order were banished. The Noveschi, supported by the King of Naples
and the new Pope Innocent, collected troops under Giulio Orsini, and
threatened the contado. Their first attempts were unsuccessful; but at
length certain of the Riformatori and Dodicini, ousted from the
administration and oppressed by the government, opened negotiations with
the chosen representatives of the Noveschi--Niccolò Borghesi and Neri
Placidi in
[Illustration: VIA FONTEBRANDA]
Rome and Leonardo Bellanti in Pisa--probably with the knowledge of the
Cardinal Francesco, who, throughout these turbulent and blood-stained
years, had acted strenuously, though not always successfully, as
peace-maker. The Noveschi and other exiles assembled at Staggia, and,
with a small force of Florentine soldiers, arrived at the Porta
Fontebranda before dawn on July 22nd, 1487. Pandolfo Petrucci is said to
have been the first to scale the walls. Leaving a small guard to hold
the gate and secure their retreat if unsuccessful, they pressed up to
the Croce del Travaglio, and then rushed through the streets, shouting
"People and Nine! Liberty and Peace!" After a brief resistance, the
Captain of the People was forced to surrender the Palace, and there was
practically no opposition elsewhere. Camillo Venturini--a young man of
the Monte del Popolo--killed with a bill-hook a certain Messer
Cristoforo di Guidoccio to avenge his father, Lorenzo di Antonio
Venturini, who had been beheaded in the previous year, and the Captain
of the People was likewise put to death. But otherwise there was little
or no bloodshed, save by way of private vendetta in the first confusion.
Bartolommeo Sozzini, one of the Dodicini who had worked the scheme at
Pisa, where he held a chair, returned with a party of mounted
crossbowmen to share in the new regime. The two most honoured citizens
of Siena--the Cardinal Francesco and his brother Andrea
Piccolomini--came in, a day or two later, and the revolution was
complete.
The government was, of course, reformed in the interests of the
conquerors, but the other factions were not entirely excluded. There
were the inevitable tumults, conspiracies, executions and banishments,
accompanied by various changes in the constitution, but all tending to
the ultimate preponderance of the Monte de' Nove, whose government was
styled "the government devout and consecrated to the glorious Virgin
Mary, the patroness and defender of our Republic." On the last day of
1494, there was a solemn reconciliation between the Popolani and the
Noveschi. The former assembled in the Spedale, the latter in the
Vescovado, and then in the evening they went separately to the Duomo.
The Noveschi occupied the gospel side of the altar and choir, the
Popolani the epistle side, and the Cardinal in full pontifical vestments
came out of the sacristy and took his seat between the two parties in
front of the high altar. "This is the day which the Lord hath made,"
began his illustrious and most reverend Lordship, "let us rejoice and be
glad in it;" and he proceeded to deliver an impassioned oration in
favour of concord, expressing his conviction that the peace and quiet of
the city were at last secured. Then a notary stepped forward and read
the articles of the peace, with a most fearful string of curses and
excommunications against any who should offend against them or break any
of them--"in such wise," writes the diarist, "that I, Allegretto di
Nanni Allegretti, who was present at these things, do not believe that
there was ever made nor heard a more stupendous and a more horrible
swearing than this." It was already night, and beneath the flaming
torches the notaries on either side inscribed the names of the citizens,
who all swore upon the Crucifix of the Missal; and while they swore and
while they solemnly kissed each other, the bells rang and the choir with
the organ burst out into _Te Deum Laudamus_. "Now may it please God,"
continues Allegretto, "that this be the peace and the quiet of all the
citizens; but I doubt it."[51]
In the following March, it was decided that the government of the city
should be equally divided among three Monti; the Monte de' Nove; the
Monte del Popolo; the Monte of the Gentiluomini and Dodicini; and that
those of the Riformatori who were admitted should be distributed among
these three Monti. A number of exiles were recalled. Then the Signoria
with all the Council went to the Duomo, to return thanks to God and to
the Virgin Mary, the _Te Deum Laudamus_ was sung, the bells rang _a
gloria_, and they returned to the Palace. But the real authority was
still vested in the Balìa. A special magistracy called the _Consiglio
dei tre segreti_ had been instituted in 1492, the three being chosen
from the members of the Balìa, and wielding, up to a certain point, the
authority of the Balìa. By means of this special Council--suppressed at
intervals by the enemies of the Noveschi, but almost always soon
re-established--the Monte de' Nove swayed the State. The government was
rapidly becoming an oligarchy, in the hands of certain families of
Noveschi.
Writing of the factions of Siena, Machiavelli calls the Noveschi the
"nobili." They were in fact a kind of burgher nobility, risen out of
families of merchants in the course of the previous century. We find
their parallel in Florentine history in the _ottimati_, the _nobili
popolani_, whose prepotency had been overthrown by the Medici more than
half a century before. They were men of wealth and influence, munificent
patrons of art and letters; several of them must rank among the most
enlightened men of their day. Prominent among them, the heart and soul
of the new regime, are the Petrucci, Salvetti, Borghesi, Bichi and
Bellanti. The more violent spirits are Giacoppo and Pandolfo Petrucci,
Luzio and Leonardo Bellanti; but the noblest is Niccolò di Bartolommeo
Borghesi, an ardent patriot and a profound scholar, whom Professor
Zdekauer regards as the most important personality in the story of Siena
during the second half of the Quattrocento. Niccolò had taken a leading
part in the return of the _fuorusciti_ in 1487, and in the September of
that year he was appointed professor for five years at the Studio to
read "Opus Humanitatis ac moralem Phylosophiam," and at the same time
made Secretary of State "with the charge of writing the annals and the
deeds of the Sienese from the foundation of the City itself."[52] But he
showed more desire to make history than to write it, married his
daughter Aurelia to Pandolfo Petrucci and plunged into the turmoil of
the political conflict.
"Pandolfo Petrucci returned with other exiles to Siena," writes
Machiavelli in the famous chapter of his _Discorsi_ dealing with
conspiracies, "and the custody of the piazza was put into his charge, as
a mechanical thing and one which the others refused; nevertheless those
armed men in time gave him so great a reputation that, in a short while,
he became prince of the city." Pandolfo was born in 1452, and was
therefore still under forty when the Noveschi returned. He was a man of
little culture or education. At first he played the second part to his
brother Giacoppo, but it was in the general alarm and confusion that
accompanied the arrival in Italy of Charles VIII. of France that he
found his opportunity. A force of 300 mercenaries, _provvisionati_, was
brought to Siena in June 1494, to guard the city and maintain order, and
Pandolfo was placed in command. This is evidently what Machiavelli
meant. In October, Filippo Valori, one of the Florentine ambassadors to
the King, wrote to Piero de' Medici that His Majesty had been informed
that the said Pandolfo was a daring and most dangerous person, _persona
animosa e scandalosa da precipitare_. Nevertheless, when Niccolò
Borghesi was sent from the Balìa to greet the King at Pisa, he was
graciously received and returned with a letter making Pandolfo and Paolo
Salvetti knights for the royal service. Charles entered Siena on
December 2nd, with his bodyguard of 300 archers, 200 men-at-arms, and
100 mounted crossbowmen, "right graciously so that it seemed he were at
home," writes Allegretto--though his soldiery, especially the Swiss,
committed numberless excesses in the contado. He marched onwards on the
4th, and there was much passing to and fro through Siena of soldiers and
ambassadors in those months, stormy and disastrous for Italy, that
followed. In the general dissolution of the Florentine dominion,
Montepulciano rose in insurrection and declared that she would live and
die with Siena. Even the women and children shouted "Lupa! Lupa!" The
Sienese promptly dispatched Antonio Bichi as commissary with troops to
the spot. The French King sent letters bidding both cities let
Montepulciano alone, for he would judge the matter. The growing feeling
of the Popolani and especially the Riformatori against the presence of
the mercenaries--the outward sign of the prepotency of the Nove--came to
a head, and, on the approach of the French army on its return march
through Tuscany, the French ambassador forced the Balìa and Pandolfo to
send them away. The King stayed a few days in Siena in June 1495,
interviewed representatives of all factions, took the Republic under his
perpetual protection, "saving the rights of the Empire," and made a
number of knights, including the infant son of Pandolfo. He left a
captain with a French garrison behind him. Next month the Riformatori
and Popolani rose, headed by Giovanni Severini and Giacomo Buoninsegni,
drove Pietro Borghesi out of Siena, fought Niccolò Borghesi and Pandolfo
Petrucci with their followers in the Campo. But on July 28th, before
daybreak, Luzio Bellanti and Pietro Borghesi with all the dismissed
mercenaries and the soldiers from Montepulciano burst into Siena by the
Porta Tufi, drove an armed mob of Popolani and Riformatori in headlong
flight down the Via di Città, occupied the Campo and all the strong
places of the city. The Dodicini and the Gentiluomini made common cause
with them, but the intervention of the French captain and Messer Andrea
Piccolomini prevented a pitched battle in the Campo or a massacre in the
streets. Pandolfo and others made a pretence of retiring to
Buonconvento, but were recalled next day, and the French captain with
his garrison was peaceably and honourably sent about his business.
The events of the next few years confirmed the power of Pandolfo. In
revenge for the affair of Montepulciano and for the assistance that the
Balìa had given to Piero de' Medici, a Florentine army led by Piero
Capponi approached Siena in January 1496, and even penetrated so far as
the Palazzo de' Diavoli. With them were Lodovico Luti and a number of
other Sienese exiles. They were in secret understanding with the
disaffected within the walls, who hoped to introduce them together with
enough Florentine soldiers to change the government. But the Florentines
were in stronger force than had been anticipated, and the conspirators
shrank from betraying their country. "The city of Siena," writes
Machiavelli in the second book of the _Discorsi_, "has never changed
state with the favour of the Florentines, save when these favours have
been small and few. For when they have been many and strenuous, they
have merely united that city for the defence of the existing
government." And so it happened now. "We were all disposed," said
Allegretto, "to defend ourselves from our most cordial enemies the
Florentines. We wanted our exiled fellow citizens back, but in another
way." The Florentines retreated. Luzio Bellanti had deserved as much as
Pandolfo from the Monte de' Nove, but he now found himself ousted from
the command of the _provvisionati_. Possibly he had been in the plot
with the Florentines; at least he now plotted to admit them and the
_fuorusciti_ and to murder the two Petrucci, Neri Placidi, Antonio
Bichi, Niccolò Borghesi and others of their faction. A peculiar feature
of the conspiracy was that one of Luzio's agents pretended to have
visions of the Madonna who, he said, wished the Sienese to go in solemn
procession to a church beyond the Porta Tufi--the idea being to leave
the way clear for the entry of the exiles. The plot was discovered, and
Luzio Bellanti in September fled with a price upon his head.
Pandolfo Petrucci was now practically without a rival, and, in all but
the name, tyrant of Siena. Pandolfo Petrucci, wrote the Venetian diarist
Sanudo, _al presente in Siena è il tutto_. In the following year, 1497,
the Balìa largely increased the number of the mercenaries, who were
still under his command, and the death of his brother Giacoppo left him
alone at the head of his own family. In theory the Balìa was still
equally divided between the three Monti; but it was entirely controlled
by the Noveschi, and a number of hostile families were "admonished" and
for ever excluded. The Balìa of forty-five--fifteen from each
Monte--that was elected in November in this year, for five years, by
successive reappointments continued in power till 1516, and in it
Pandolfo sat to the end of his life. His strong personality, coupled
with his lavishness and backed by the mercenaries, secured the
compliance of the high and dazzled the low. While not openly interfering
with the republican forms of government, and merely taking the
comparatively humble title of "magnifico," which every petty noble used
in the aristocratic circles of Ferrara or Mantua, he kept in his own
hands the whole thread of Sienese policy. Allied to France and never
openly breaking with Florence, he plotted with Duke Lodovico Sforza of
Milan until the latter's fall, kept in touch with the exiled Medici, and
maintained intimate relations with the petty tyrants of Umbria and the
Patrimony. His chosen confidant was a Neopolitan of humble birth, who
had once held a chair at the University of Siena, a certain Antonio da
Venafro, exalted by Machiavelli as the typical secretary of a tyrant, "a
serviceable villain" in the Shakespearian sense, who stuck at no crime
for his patron's sake nor hesitated to whisper bloodier suggestions into
his ear.
Much use did Pandolfo make of secret assassinations. The exiled Lodovico
Luti was murdered by his emissaries in 1499. Luzio Bellanti, earning a
precarious living as a man of letters in Florence, lived in constant
apprehension. "The liberty of my country," he says at the end of a book
on astrology which he published in 1498, "is ever in my mind. Even
whilst I write, a messenger breaks in to warn me that assassins are at
hand to slay me; everywhere I find snares prepared, so that my friends
may call me Damocles or Dionysius. And although I am by now become
callous, nevertheless the pen drops from my wearied hand." A little
later his apprehensions were verified; but in the meanwhile Leonardo
Bellanti (Luzio's brother) and Niccolò Borghesi (Pandolfo's
father-in-law) showed signs of resenting the Petruccian supremacy, and
Antonio da Venafro urged his master to make away with Niccolò, who was
dreaming republican dreams. An alleged conspiracy against Pandolfo's own
life was the pretext--but, some months before this, he had communicated
to Lodovico Sforza, through his serviceable secretary, his intention of
freeing himself from the Bellanti and the Borghesi. In June 1500,
Niccolò Borghesi was set upon by six armed men in Pandolfo's pay, as he
was returning from Mass at the Duomo, and mortally wounded. He lingered
on for a few weeks, spending what of life remained to him in finishing
his life of St Catherine, in dictating a Latin epigram commending Siena
to her protection. Then he died, freely forgiving Pandolfo for his
death. On July 20th he was buried in the vaults of San Domenico.
Pandolfo professed the most sincere repentance, and sent a Franciscan
friar to the murdered man's son, Bernardino, to propose a conference at
the convent of the Osservanza. Leonardo Bellanti, who had fled from
Siena at the news of Niccolò's death, wrote a vigorous letter to
Bernardino urging him not to go. "The ground still runs with the blood
of thy excellent father, the father of our common country," he said; "I
know not how thou canst even think of having to speak to him who with
his own hands--nay, much more than with his own hands--so deliberately
and abominably, with such cruelty, hath killed thy father, and but
yesterday. Alas! Art thou not a rational man? Hast no spirit? Hast not
blood? Hast no heart or stomach? For, certes, the vilest of men would
not listen to his messengers, much less speak to this man who is devoid
of any faith or love, but most abounding in good words and tears."[53]
Nevertheless the Borghesi were reconciled to Pandolfo, and Leonardo
himself soon returned to the city.
A new danger now threatened Siena and Pandolfo alike. Cesare Borgia,
with the aid of his father, Pope Alexander VI., was building up a great
state for himself in central Italy. He had conquered the Romagna, added
Piombino to his dominions in September 1501, and was casting eyes upon
Siena. In the spring of 1502 the Pope invited Pandolfo to meet him at
Piombino; but the Magnifico, pleading excuses and delays, did not go. In
August Pandolfo purchased the protection of King Louis XII. of France,
with the moneys of the Republic. He sent ambassadors to congratulate
Cesare on his conquests, but plotted against him with the petty tyrants
who led his mercenaries and began to suspect that their own turns were
coming. In the autumn took place the famous meeting of the conspirators
at La Magione, to ally against Cesare--"for the salvation of all, and
not to be, one by one, devoured by the dragon," as their leading spirit,
Giampaolo Baglioni of Perugia, put it. Pandolfo was represented by
Antonio da Venafro and Guido Pecci, and hoped for Piombino as his share
of the spoils. At the same time he tried to treat with the Borgia, using
Antonio da Venafro as a go-between. "This man," said Cesare to
Machiavelli (who was with him as ambassador of Florence), "sends me
every day either letters or special envoys to make me understand his
great friendship towards me, but I know him." It is needless to repeat
the tale here of how Cesare--when his forces were temporarily defeated
at Fossombrone--waited until the time was ripe, and then crushed the
wretched conspirators at the famous _tradimento_ of Sinigaglia. Pandolfo
had kept out of the trap. Perugia surrendered on January 6th, 1503;
Giampaolo Baglioni fled with his followers to join his Sienese ally.
Siena now "felt the Hydra's fiery breath." "This Signore," wrote
Machiavelli of Cesare to the Signoria of Florence from Gualdo on January
6th, "is leaving here to-morrow with his army and is going to Assisi,
and thence he will advance upon Siena to make of that city a state to
his own liking." At Assisi the Sienese ambassadors met him. Cesare
assured them that he had no quarrel with the Republic, but was at war
only with his _inimico capitale_, Pandolfo. Let them send him away and
there would be peace. Otherwise he would come with his army, "impelled
by necessity and by a reasonable indignation against the man who, not
content with tyrannising over one of the first cities of Italy, wished
also by ruining others to be able to impose laws upon all his
neighbours." Machiavelli thought Pandolfo's position fairly strong,
seeing that he was "a man of much prudence in a state held by him with
great reputation, and without having external or internal enemies of
real importance, since he has either killed them or reconciled them, and
with a large force of good troops, if Giampaolo has taken refuge with
him, as they say, and not without money." The Balìa sent to assure the
Duke that he was mistaken about Pandolfo, who was no tyrant but had
always conducted himself as "a most modest citizen," and to remind him
that Siena was under the protection of France. "The master of the shop,
who is the King of France," quoth Cesare with pleasing frankness to
Machiavelli, "would not be content that I should take Siena for myself,
nor am I so daring that I should think of such a thing. That community
should trust me; I want nothing of theirs, but only to drive away
Pandolfo. And I would have thy Government bear witness to and publish
this intention of mine, which is only to assure myself of this tyrant. I
believe that that community of Siena will believe me; but in case it
should not, I shall march on and plant my artillery at the gates."
Pandolfo, he said, had been the _cervello_, the brain of the whole
conspiracy against him. He confidently appealed to the Florentines for
help in the business, "for as long as Pandolfo is in Siena, it will
always be a refuge and a support for all your enemies."[54]
The Sienese prepared for defence, while messenger after messenger was
sent to stay the Borgia's advance. At first all orders seemed united to
defend Pandolfo, "with such love and charity," wrote the Balìa, "as has
never been shown in any other occurrence in this city." The mob shouted
lustily for "Lupa, Libertà e Pandolfo." But Cesare came nearer and
nearer, sending an ultimatum before him, bidding the Sienese expel
Pandolfo, dismiss Giampaolo Baglioni and his men, and surrender their
artillery. Then the hearts of the Sienese began to sink; there were
countrymen of theirs in the hostile camp, and Leonardo Bellanti was
vigorously fanning the flames among the citizens. Pandolfo sent his
children to a place of safety. At length, on January 24th, the Balìa, in
Pandolfo's presence, decreed his exile, and appointed six citizens to
come to an agreement with Cesare. But already the people had risen in
tumult at the sight of the two Borgian envoys and the rumoured approach
of his cavalry, and Pandolfo still lingered. Then there came another
letter from Cesare from Pienza: "We swear to God that if, in whatever
hour you shall receive these presents, you shall not have already
expelled, or shall not immediately without further delay expel the said
Pandolfo, we shall reckon every one of you in the place of Pandolfo.
And without any intermission we shall move to the total extermination of
all your towns, subjects, and goods, and of your city and of your own
persons. Since you choose to be our enemies, you shall remain beaten
down and crushed in such wise that never again shall you be able to
offend us."[55] This settled it. On the evening of January 28th,
Pandolfo and Giampaolo took a solemn farewell of the government and left
Siena. As the Magnifico rode from the Palazzo his adherents crowded
round him, weeping and profuse in their anticipations of his speedy
return. But a woman shrieked at him from a window: "Crucify him! crucify
the traitor!" It was the mother of a certain Ildebrando Cerretani, who
had been secretly murdered at Pandolfo's bidding. He made his way in
disguise to Lucca, closely pursued by a band of Borgia's light-armed
cavalry, who (in spite of Cesare's safe conduct to Pandolfo) had orders
to cut both him and Giampaolo to pieces.
In the meanwhile Leonardo Bellanti, Andrea Piccolomini, Lorenzo
Beccafumi, and three other delegates were making terms for Siena with
Cesare. But the Pope called the Duke back to suppress the rising of the
Roman barons, and the intervention of the King of France protected Siena
from further molestation. To the demands of the King addressed to the
Balìa for the recall of Pandolfo, an evasive answer was returned, and
the Pope was assured that the Sienese did not want him back. Pandolfo,
however, had gained over the Florentines by undertaking to restore
Montepulciano, and he suddenly appeared with armed men at Poggibonsi. On
March 29th, the Balìa decreed his recall and restitution into the
Collegio; but they implored him not to bring Giampaolo Baglioni with
him, and to be content with a modest return with a small company, so
that he could "enjoy his sweet native land in peace with the others, as
is the common desire of all the citizens." Nevertheless, on the same
day, Pandolfo entered Siena in triumph accompanied by the French
ambassadors, with Giampaolo Baglioni and his cavalry, and the
condottiere Pochintesta da Bagnacavallo with a large force of infantry.
"And so," he wrote to the Florentines, "by the gift of God, accompanied
by the orators of the Most Christian King, and with a great multitude of
the citizens and Sienese nobles, peacefully and without tumult or any
disturbance, have I entered my sweet native land."[56]
Alexander VI. died in the following August, and was succeeded by the
Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, who took the title of Pius III. in the
memory of his uncle. Andrea Piccolomini had left Siena on Pandolfo's
return, and the new Pope was probably not well disposed to the
re-establishment of this despotism in his native city. But his
pontificate only lasted twenty-six days--he was broken down already with
age and ill-health; and Pandolfo managed to establish friendly relations
with his successor, Julius II. Like his uncle, Pius III. has left his
mark upon Siena, and we shall return to him in the Duomo.
Henceforth Pandolfo was practically undisputed lord of Siena and her
dominion, though he never succeeded in getting the longed-for imperial
investiture. The citizens appear to have acquiesced in his supremacy.
The Balìa was in his hands; he disposed of the moneys of the State, and
appears to have been allowed to sell certain magistracies and offices to
his own profit. Ambassadors were sent to him and not to the Republic,
and business was transacted by the "Magnificent Pandolfo Petrucci,
Sienese Patrician, in the stead and in the name of the Magnificent
Commune of Siena." He meddled in all the political intrigues of the
early Cinquecento, with a considerable amount of success. "In the midst
of the new complications which now arose," writes Professor Villari, "he
shaped his course with the greatest wariness, and whilst he made a show
of friendship towards Florence, from which he could certainly receive
much damage, he strove also to draw near to her enemies, seeing that the
bad fortune of France was augmenting their power and ever rendering the
friends of Spain more potent."[57] He secretly assisted Pisa against
Florence in 1505, when Bartolommeo Alviano assailed the territory of the
latter Republic, and this was the occasion of the second legation of
Machiavelli to Siena in the July of that year.[58] Machiavelli found
Pandolfo a hard problem: "I can hardly judge," he wrote to the Signoria,
"whether he should be believed or not, because here I have seen no sign
whereby I can make a better conjecture than can your Lordships." And he
talked all day with Antonio da Venafro, without getting anything out of
him.
There was a last conspiracy against Pandolfo's life in 1508. He had
promised his daughter Sulpizia to Giulio, one of the sons of Leonardo
Bellanti, but married her to Sigismondo Chigi instead. Induced by this
slight and the desire of avenging Luzio, Leonardo and his sons with a
force of armed men lay in wait for Pandolfo, on his way to visit their
own kinsman, Petrino Bellanti, who lay sick. A boy that they had set to
watch gave the alarm too soon, and the Magnifico escaped. The Bellanti
at once fled through the Porta Camollia to Florence. They were summoned
to appear before the Balìa within three days, declared rebels, and their
goods confiscated.
Pandolfo had now assumed the pomp and state of a petty prince. He walked
through the streets and squares followed by a cortège of Noveschi and
Gentiluomini, while his splendid new palace near the Duomo seemed
destined to play the part in the story of Siena that the Palazzo
Riccardi was doing in that of Florence. He made and unmade marriages at
his pleasure. He separated Mariana Vignoli from her husband, and shut
her up in a convent, while he compelled Vittoria Piccolomini, the
daughter of the late Andrea, to become the wife of his own son Borghese.
The sumptuary laws of Siena touching the jewels and dresses of ladies
were abrogated in favour of the women of his family,[59] who are said to
have taken full advantage of this dispensation. He obtained possession
for himself of various castles and palaces in the contado, while by
humouring the nobles, giving the public funds and offices to his
friends, finding work for artisans and food for the poor, he contrived
to keep all classes more or less content. "How does the Magnifico rule
the Sienese?" asked one of the Popes of Antonio da Venafro. "With lies,
Holy Father," answered the astute secretary. But Luzio Bellanti and
Niccolò Borghesi were not alone in declining to give credit to these
_bugie_, and Pandolfo is said to have murdered some sixty persons in the
course of his reign. The more insignificant of these were thrown into
oubliettes or disused burial vaults, and left there to starve.
In 1511, Pope Julius created Pandolfo's second son Alfonso a Cardinal.
In the same year peace was finally made with Florence, and a
confederation established between the two Republics, Montepulciano being
restored and the prepotency of the Petrucci assured. The star of France
being on the wane in Italy, Pandolfo was now looking to Spain. His last
political act was to intervene for harmony between the Pope and
Florence. Gradually he was losing hold of things, absorbed in a vulgar,
senile passion for a certain Caterina, whom the Sienese called "the
two-handed sword," the young wife of an artisan in the Via di Salicotto.
In February 1512, he obtained from the Balìa that his son Borghese
should take his place in the Collegio, and in all other magistracies in
his absence. On May 21st he died at San Quirico. All the shops were
closed when his body was brought to the city; there was a state funeral
in the Duomo, after which it was carried in procession to San Francesco,
and thence quietly conveyed by the friars to the Osservanza.
Machiavelli, who came with the condolences of the Republic of Florence,
ranks Pandolfo in the second class of despots. He was undoubtedly not
among the worst tyrants of the epoch. Especially after his return from
his brief exile, his rule was beneficial to Siena, in that he secured
for the State a comparatively long period of respite from internal
factions and of external peace.
Pandolfo, writes an anonymous chronicler, at his death left Borghese his
son with the same authority, but not with the same prudence. The
machinations of Antonio da Venafro secured his peaceful accession to his
father's dignities, and an increased force of mercenaries was hired
under the command of Orazio Baglioni--Borghese's prospective
brother-in-law. But the young man was utterly without his father's
abilities, luxurious and dissolute, as well as cowardly and arrogant. So
superstitious was he that, at the advice of a Jew astrologer, he always
wore a bracelet with certain mysterious signs that should infallibly
protect him from all possible enemies. For some time he tried the
Medicean policy of dazzling the populace with festivities and
spectacular displays, while the Cardinal Alfonso amassed riches at Rome,
and plunged into the intrigues at the court of Leo X., which the papal
executioners cut short a few years later. While the brutalities of
Borghese's favourite, the condottiere Pochintesta, disgusted and
exasperated the Sienese, there was another Petrucci--Raffaello di
Giacoppo, Bishop of Grosseto and governor of the Castle of
Sant'Angelo--high in favour with the Pope and biding his time, in touch
with the Bellanti, Petroni, Tancredi, and other families that hated
Borghese. In December 1515, Borghese dismissed Antonio da Venafro. "I
go, Magnificence," said the old secretary, "but only to take rooms for
you." In the following March, with aid from Pope Leo X. and Florence,
Raffaello Petrucci appeared in Sienese territory at the head of a force
of mercenaries, accompanied by Leonardo Bellanti and other exiles, and
Borghese with his young brother Fabio ignominiously fled from the city,
leaving his wife and little daughters behind him.
Raffaello Petrucci entered Siena in triumph through the Porta Romana on
March 10th, 1516, harangued the Signoria--his words being few and
inelegant, says Pecci, because he was ignorant and more disposed to arms
than to letters--and was then conveyed in state to his father's palace,
which occupied the site of the present Palazzo Reale. The creation of
the new Balìa was put into his hands, the exiles were restored to their
honours, Borghese and Fabio declared rebels. A league--but with
reservation of the imperial rights over the city of Siena and its
state--was concluded with the younger Lorenzo de' Medici and the Pope,
who was desirous, says Guicciardini, "that that city, being placed
between the States of the Church and of the Florentines, should be
governed by a man in his confidence, and perchance all the more because
he hoped, when the opportunity of times should
[Illustration: THE PORTA ROMANA]
be propitious, to be able, by the consent of the Bishop himself, to
subject it either to his brother or his nephew." In the following year
the Cardinal Alfonso Petrucci plotted against the Pope's life in Rome,
was degraded from the Cardinalate, and strangled in prison. One of his
accomplices was the condottiere Pochintesta who, when examined, accused
the Bellanti of similarly intending to murder the Bishop Raffaello at
Siena. Raffaello summoned Giulio and Guidone Bellanti to his presence;
the first was butchered by Francesco di Camillo Petrucci in the street
outside, the second cut to pieces in the palace before Raffaello's eyes,
while he knelt and begged for mercy. Leonardo Bellanti, their old
father, was sent to a fortress in the Maremma and there beheaded.
Shortly afterwards, Raffaello was raised to the Cardinalate.
In spite of his personal immorality and cruelty, the tyranny of the
Cardinal Raffaello does not seem to have been utterly bad. He governed
with a firm hand, keeping Siena in peace and comparative prosperity for
six years. During his absence at the conclave after the death of Leo X.,
the exiles and anti-Mediceans prevailed upon the Duke of Urbino in
January, 1522, to invade the Sienese contado in favour of Lattanzio
Petrucci, also an ecclesiastic and a cousin of Borghese; but with no
result. And in March, after his return, another unsuccessful attempt led
by Renzo da Ceri, backed by France and secretly favoured by a party in
Siena itself, was made to overthrow his regime. The Cardinal died
suddenly in his villa on December 17th, 1522, in such a tempest "that it
seemed the mouth of Hell were opened." When his body was brought to
Siena to be buried in San Domenico, a howling mob assailed the funeral
procession, hurling stones and hooting, shouting that the dead man
should be thrown out into the place where the carrion was cast. The
friars all fled, leaving the bier alone in the midst of the police, who
with difficulty got it safe into the church. Raffaello left one
illegitimate son, Eustacchio, who held the command of the mercenaries in
the Campo.
Francesco di Camillo Petrucci, the son of a younger brother of Pandolfo,
who had been at the head of the government during the Cardinal's
absence, now seized the chief power; while part of the citizens looked
to the imperial agents in Rome for the restoration of their liberties,
and another part desired the recall of Pandolfo's youngest son
Fabio--Borghese having gone mad at Naples. Francesco's tyrannical
behaviour and his murder of Marcello Saracini disgusted all classes.
Pope Clement VII., who intended to marry Fabio Petrucci with the
daughter of Galeotto de' Medici, summoned Francesco to Rome and kept him
there, while Fabio, in December 1523, entered Siena. Fabio was a youth
of eighteen years of age, excessively handsome and winning in manners,
most incompetent and more dissolute than even Borghese had been. The
Sienese stood his mercenaries and his unsavoury amours for about nine
months. On September 18th, 1524, there was a general rising against him,
headed by Giovanni Martinozzi, Mario Bandini and Giovanni Battista
Piccolomini. Fabio's mercenaries occupied the Palazzo, while his few
remaining friends assembled in the house of Alessandro Bichi. There was
prolonged fighting in the Campo, in the Piazza Tolomei, at the Croce del
Travaglio, the adherents of Fabio raising the Florentine shout of
"Marzocco" only to be drowned by the swelling thunder of "Popolo e
Libertà!" Had Fabio held his ground for a couple of days more, aid would
have been forthcoming from the Florentines and the Pope; but his heart
failed him and, rejecting the compromise which the leaders of the
revolution offered him, he fled at nightfall through the Porta Tufi and
escaped to Florence. Thus ignominiously ended the tyranny of the
Petrucci in Siena.
CHAPTER IV
_The Sculptors and Painters of Siena_
We may conveniently begin the story of Sienese art with the coming of
Niccolò Pisano to Siena in 1266, the year after Dante's birth, for the
work of the great marble pulpit of the Duomo. Niccolò's son, Giovanni,
became a citizen of Siena, and was chief architect of the Duomo during
the two closing decades of the century. Stimulated by their presence and
example, there rose an independent school of Sienese sculptors, which
flourished from the end of the thirteenth to the middle of the
fourteenth century--a school which chronologically succeeds to that
founded by Niccolò Pisano, and anticipates the rise of the Florentine
school under Andrea Pisano's influence. These Sienese sculptors were
mainly employed upon the Cathedrals of Siena and of Orvieto, and in
making tombs in other cities of Italy, sepulchral monuments in which,
writes M. Reymond, "the Sienese school reveals a very special and new
character, which is the subordination of the religious idea to the civil
idea."[60] Tino da Camaino, who sculptured the famous tomb of Henry VII.
at Pisa and worked for the royal Angevins of Naples; the architects,
Agostino di Giovanni and Agnolo di Ventura; Cellino di Nese, who made
the tomb of the poet Cino at Pistoia; Gano da Siena and Ramo di
Paganello; Lorenzo Maitani, whose fame is for ever linked to the
glorious Duomo of Orvieto; these are the masters of chief repute in
this early Sienese school.
All these belong to that bright epoch in the story of Siena previous to
the great pestilence of 1348. Then there came a sad decline, as the
statues of the Apostles in the chapel of the Campo, executed between
1376 and 1384, show only too clearly. But, just at the time that St
Catherine was beginning her public life, Siena became the mother of one
of the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance.
Giacomo della Quercia was the son of a goldsmith named Pietro di Agnolo,
a citizen of Siena, and was born in Siena or its contado in 1371 or
1374. His first artistic studies were made in Siena itself where, there
being then no great native sculptors, he drank inspiration almost solely
from the great pulpit of the Duomo. This, perhaps, is what makes him so
isolated a figure in the art of the Quattrocento; the heir of Niccolò
Pisano, the forerunner of Michelangelo. He left Siena when it fell into
the hands of the Duke of Milan, and went to Florence, where he was
chiefly impressed by the work of Giotto and Andrea Pisano. In 1401 he
entered the competition for the second bronze gates of the Baptistery,
and came next to Ghiberti and Brunelleschi; his figures, says Vasari,
were considered good, but lacking in refinement, _non avevano finezze_.
A few years later, at Lucca, he carved that tomb of Ilaria del Carretto,
made famous in our own days by the eloquent enthusiasm of Ruskin. His
native city now began to recognise his genius. In 1409 he was
commissioned to make the famous fountain of the Piazza del Campo, upon
which he worked at intervals between 1412 and 1419--going off to do
other work at Lucca, and forced by the Signoria to return under heavy
financial penalties. In 1416 he was commissioned by the Operaio, or
superintendent of the artistic work of the Duomo, to design the Font for
the Baptistery,
[Illustration: _The Pulpit of the Duomo, Siena._
(_Niccolò Pisano and his pupils._)]
and in the following year to cast two bronze scenes, _storie_, for the
same. But here again he undertook things elsewhere--in Bologna, this
time--and the Signoria had to compel him to finish what he had begun,
which he did in 1434. In the meanwhile, he had accomplished his supreme
work at Bologna in the bas-reliefs on the pilasters of the door of San
Petronio--those marvellous scenes from the Book of Genesis, in which he
seems to anticipate the achievement of Michelangelo in the Cappella
Sistina. Giacomo died at Siena in 1438. His style is grand and austere,
full of force and vigour, with a kind of rugged greatness that contrasts
curiously with the manner of contemporary Sienese painters; he dispenses
with accessories, concentrating the interest upon the human figures in
his stories. There is peculiar nobility and power in his treatment of
the nude. "Sooth to say, Giacomo had only one pupil, and for him there
was a century to wait; he was Michelangelo."[61]
No other Sienese sculptor of the Quattrocento approaches Giacomo's
solitary greatness. Pietro del Minella (1391-1458) was his favourite
pupil and assistant, but caught little of his spirit. The two
Turini--Turino di Sano and his son Giovanni (1384-1455)--were associated
with him on the work for the Baptistery, and acquitted themselves
creditably, even by the side of Donatello and Ghiberti. Then come two
men of greater mark: Antonio Federighi (died about 1480), and Lorenzo di
Pietro (1412-1480), called Il Vecchietta. The former, who is said to
have been connected with the Tolomei, was also an architect, as the
"grandiose simplicity" of the Loggia that he built for Pius II. shows;
as a sculptor, he is perhaps the most classical of the Sienese masters
of the Quattrocento, following not unworthily in the steps of both
Giacomo della Quercia and Donatello. Vecchietta appears to have been
actually Giacomo's pupil; his principal works are in bronze, somewhat
hard and dry in style, with excessive attention to anatomical details.
Giovanni di Stefano (died after 1498) and Urbano da Cortona (died 1504),
by the latter of whom are some tolerable works in the Duomo and
elsewhere, are conscientious _scarpellini_, with no original genius. To
Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439-1502), the pupil of Vecchietta, are
ascribed--frequently on no adequate grounds--a number of the chief
buildings in Siena in the style of the earlier Renaissance; as a
military architect, he stands high among the craftsmen of his century,
and was much employed by the Dukes of Urbino. Like his master
Vecchietta, he was also a worker in bronze and a painter. Of his
fellow-pupil Neroccio di Bartolommeo Landi (1447-1500), it will be best
to speak among the painters; his few extant works in sculpture have a
peculiar combination of dignity and sweetness, which is at once
impressive and winning. Giacomo Cozzarelli (1453-1515) was a pupil of
Francesco di Giorgio; he designed the famous palace of Pandolfo Petrucci
and made those wonderful torch-holders and other metal work for its
exterior, which are only surpassed by Caparra's masterpieces in this
kind on the palace of Filippo Strozzi at Florence. Lorenzo di Mariano,
called Il Marrina (died in 1534), is the last great sculptor of the
Sienese Renaissance; as a decorator in marble he has few if any equals,
and his masterpiece in the oratory of Fontegiusta need not fear the
comparison with the best Florentine work of the epoch.
Nor should we pass from the sculptors without a word on the
wood-carvers, who are among the minor artistic glories of Siena.
Domenico di Niccolò (who died about 1450), called Del Coro from his work
in the chapel of the Palazzo del Comune, Antonio Barili (died 1516), and
Giovanni Barili (died 1529), produced work in this kind which is hardly
surpassed in any Italian city of the Renaissance.
The Jesuit art-historian Lanzi characterised the Sienese school of
painters as _lieta scuola fra lieto popolo_, "a blithe school among a
blithe people," and added that their principal works were to be found in
the churches of the city. Needless to say that the latter remark no
longer holds, and we shall do best to begin our consideration of the
painters in the well-arranged picture gallery of the _Reale Istituto
Provinciale di Belle Arti_.
The first great epoch in Sienese painting, as in sculpture, is
contemporaneous with the government of the Nine and ends with the
outbreak of the pestilence of 1348. The moving spirit of this period,
the true founder of the Sienese school, is Duccio di Buoninsegna. Recent
researches have shown that he was born shortly before the battle of
Montaperti, and that his artistic activity extends from 1278 to
1313.[62] It will be better to speak more fully of his work when we
stand before his masterpiece in the Opera del Duomo, that picture which,
in Ghiberti's words, "was made right excellently and learnedly, and is a
magnificent thing." Bringing the Byzantine manner to its utmost
perfection for the purpose of religious illustration, Duccio gave
imperishable form to what had been more or less traditional through the
previous centuries of Christian art. He is to the Middle Ages what
Raphael was to be to the Renaissance. Segna di Tura di Buoninsegna, who
was working in the early years of the fourteenth century, was Duccio's
pupil, perhaps his nephew; he imitated the manner of his master, but
somewhat ineffectually. Simone Martini, on the other hand, followed
worthily in Duccio's footsteps; with an exquisite sense of beauty and a
love of splendid decorative effects in colour, he is perhaps the most
typical master of "soft Siena," doing for her in line and colour what
Folgore had done in rhyme. He died in 1344. With him as assistant worked
his brother-in-law, Lippo Memmi; "they were gentle masters," wrote
Ghiberti, "and their pictures were done with the greatest diligence,
right delicately finished." This epoch culminates in the two
Lorenzetti--Pietro and his younger brother Ambrogio--both of whom appear
to have been among the victims of the pestilence. Ambrogio especially,
_famosissimo e singularissimo maestro_, as Ghiberti calls him,
_nobilissimo componitore_, is the greatest and most imaginative painter
that Siena has produced. In the splendid allegorical frescoes with which
he adorned the palace chamber of the _Signori Nove_ and in his glowing
altarpieces, in material beauty and spiritual significance, he reaches a
height unattained by any other Italian painter of his century--save only
the mighty Florentine, Andrea Orcagna.
In the Stanza Prima--_dei Primitivi_--we have first a number of pictures
of the Pre-Duccian epoch. The altarpiece (1), partly in stucco in half
relief and in the Byzantine style, is peculiarly interesting from its
date, 1215, as showing us the state of art in Tuscany in the very year
of the traditional outbreak of the Guelf and Ghibelline factions in
Florence. The very curious paintings (4 and 5), belonging to the
thirteenth century, may be taken as next-to-contemporary representations
of the scenes from the lives of St Francis and St Clare and Blessed
Andrea Gallerani which they include (besides St Bartholomew, St
Catherine of Alexandria, and St Dominic); St Clare repulsing Manfred's
Saracens
[Illustration:
_Alinari, Florence_
THE FONT OF SAN GIOVANNI DI SIENA]
from her convent by the Sacred Host is unique in so early a picture. We
may here mention that Andrea Gallerani, a frequently recurring figure in
Sienese art, was a nobleman of Siena, who died in 1251. He had killed a
man for blaspheming and was exiled, but afterwards returned and devoted
himself to works of mercy and charity, founding the Spedale della
Misericordia, which was later united to the great Spedale di Sta. Maria
della Scala. Next comes a series of paintings in the Byzantine manner:
two somewhat imposing altarpieces to the honour of the Baptist and the
Prince of the Apostles respectively (14 and 15); smaller scenes (8 to
13), showing the sort of thing that Duccio glorified and perfected a
little later. Duccio himself is represented by six authentic pictures;
an early work on a small scale (20), the Madonna and Child with Angels
and Franciscan friars; three Saints (22, 23); an important and
characteristic picture of the Madonna and Child with St Peter and St
Dominic, St Paul and St Augustine, Christ blessing from above and Angels
bearing sceptres that end in threefold lilies in token of the Trinity
(28); a triptych (35), including scenes from the lives of Christ and His
Mother that anticipate in some sort the illustrative power of his
masterpiece in the Opera del Duomo; a large altarpiece in many divisions
(47), in which the Blessed Virgin is honoured under two of the titles
assigned to her in the Litany of Loreto--"Queen of Patriarchs," "Queen
of Prophets." By Segna di Tura are several pictures of no great
importance; part of an altar-piece (40); a Madonna (44); St Ansanus
(42); and St Galganus (43). It may be well to mention that St Ansanus,
according to the legend, was the first Apostle of Siena, a Roman
patrician who suffered in the persecution of Diocletian; St Galganus
lived in the twelfth century, was guided by St Michael into the
wilderness, and when prevented by the devil from cutting wood to make a
cross he struck his sword into the hard rock, which became soft as wax
to receive it and then harder than adamant to retain it, and built a
hermitage at the spot. He is usually pictured as here by Segna--a young
knight with flowing golden hair, the miraculous sword forming on the
rocky desert place the sacred sign of Redemption. Simone Martini is not
represented in the Gallery; but there is an altarpiece (51) ascribed to
Lippo Memmi, and fairly characteristic of the religious art of
fourteenth century Siena. A well-preserved picture in the following room
(11), with St Michael as central figure, shows something of Lippo's
manner, but is not a work of the master himself.
In the second room there is a noble collection of paintings by the
Lorenzetti. By the elder brother Pietro are: the Assumption of the
Madonna (5), with the doubting Thomas receiving the sacred girdle; the
Madonna and Child enthroned (21), with a lovely band of Angels
clustering round the throne; four small scenes from the history of the
Order of the Carmelities (28, 29), being apparently the remains of the
predella of a famous picture that Pietro painted for the church of the
Carmine in 1329. The younger Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, is represented by
three masterpieces. The smallest of these (9) is a perfect gem of early
Sienese art; the Madonna is enthroned with both her arms folded round
the Divine Child, who unfolds a scroll to the four Latin Doctors
kneeling in adoration, each receiving His doctrine with a wonderful
expression of rapt devotion, ecstasy and yearning--but each in a totally
different way; the golden haired Virgin Martyrs, Catherine with her
wheel, Dorothy with her flowers, are standing in attendance on the
Queen, and there are six adoring Angels above. The large altar-piece (2)
is a striking and imposing work; the Madonna and Child are attended by
the Magdalene and St Dorothy and the two St Johns, while below is the
Deposition from the Cross: the heads are full of beauty and expression,
and the Deposition shows Ambrogio's dramatic power. The Annunciation
(33), dated the 17th of December 1344, appears to be Ambrogio's last
extant work; it was painted for the Palazzo del Comune and, in addition
to the painter's name, is inscribed with those of the Camarlingo--Don
Francesco, monk of St Galganus--the three Esecutori and the Scrittore or
scribe.[63] High up on the wall above this picture are two half figures
of saints (34, 36), damaged, but genuine Ambrogios. Ascribed to Pietro
Lorenzetti is a curious allegory (37), apparently of the story of sin
and the Atonement of the Cross.
As in sculpture, so in painting, a decline set in after 1348. In the
latter part of the fourteenth century worked Giacomo di Mino del
Pellicciaio, Lippo di Vanni, Bartolo di Maestro Fredi (who died in
1410), Barna or Berna, Luca di Tommè, Paolo di Giovanni, Andrea di
Vanni. They are somewhat mediocre artists, far below the Lorenzetti,
from whom they not unfrequently borrow motives; still, as religious
illustrators, they follow to the best of their limited powers the
greater men who had gone before. Andrea di Vanni is an exceedingly
interesting personality; he was a man of mark in the counsels of the
Riformatori, served the State as ambassador and in other capacities, and
was a fervent disciple of St Catherine, who addressed several letters to
him and whose portrait he painted. Barna can only be studied at San
Gimignano, and the picture ascribed to Andrea di Vanni (59) is not one
of his few authenticated works. But Bartolo di Maestro Fredi is
represented in this Stanza II. by a whole series of paintings (42 to
49); by Luca di Tommè is a signed and dated picture of 1367 (54), in
which the central group of St Anne with a very sweet and girlish
Madonna has great charm; Paolo di Giovanni's Nativity of the Blessed
Virgin (61), partly imitated from a picture by Pietro Lorenzetti, is
bright and pleasant in colour and feeling; by Giacomo di Mino is a
triptych (90). This room contains also some good and characteristic
works of the Florentine school of the Trecento; a Madonna with the
Magdalene and St Catherine of Alexandria and Angels (52), signed by
Taddeo Gaddi; the Death and Coronation of the Madonna (64, 70), by
Spinello Aretino. The connecting link between this group of Sienese
artists and the painters of the Quattrocento is found in Taddeo di
Bartolo (1363-1422), the pupil of Bartolo di Fredi. With no striking
originality nor any great power, Taddeo was a conscientious and
meritorious painter, whose works show a deep religious feeling, and who
exercised considerable influence upon the Sienese school of his day.
Most of the greater painters of the succeeding epoch may be said to have
proceeded, directly or indirectly, from his school. By Taddeo di
Bartolo, besides a number of smaller pictures, there is in this room one
large altar-piece in several divisions (76), signed and dated 1409, of
which the central scene is the Annunciation with St Cosmas and St
Damian, the patron saints of the medical profession.
Sienese painting in the fifteenth century is distinguished by its
mystical tone and its exceedingly conservative, not to say
retrogressive, spirit. No preoccupation with scientific researches, no
problems of movement or anatomy, disturbed the calm of the Sienese
painters; we meet with hardly any portraiture in their work, and even
less mythology. These most turbulent of Italian people who, in De
Commines' famous phrase, "are ever in division, and govern their
commonwealth more fondly than any other town in Italy," chose that their
painters should give them art that was exclusively the handmaid of
religion. While foreign sculptors, such as Donatello and Ghiberti, were
welcomed and employed in Siena, foreign painters were practically
excluded until the last two decades of the century. Great spiritual
beauty in faces, accuracy of drawing within certain limits, with a
profusion and a lavishness in the use of gold and the most brilliant
colours (this the Sienese particularly demanded of their painters),
characterise the school at this epoch. Their strength and their weakness
alike are shown in that their most typical painter is styled the
"Sienese Fra Angelico," while there never was, at least to any good
effect, a Sienese Masaccio. The chief painters whose work falls into
this period are: Sano di Pietro (1406-1481), Domenico di Bartolo (whose
few extant works are dated from 1433 to 1443), Giovanni di Paolo (died
in 1482), the sculptor Lorenzo di Pietro, called Il Vecchietta
(1412-1480), Stefano di Giovanni called Sassetta (died in 1450). And
then, following after these, a second group: Matteo di Giovanni, who was
born about 1435 and died in 1495; Francesco di Giorgio Martini
(1439-1502), Neroccio di Bartolommeo Landi (1447-1500), Benvenuto di
Giovanni (1436-1518)--these three the pupils of Lorenzo di Pietro.
These painters and their contemporaries are represented in the four
following rooms of the gallery. In Stanza III., a curious little panel
by Domenico di Bartolo (19), with a devout inscription in honour of the
Madonna, signed _Dominicus_ and dated 1433, contrasts strongly with the
more typical Sienese works that surround it. The composition, the types
of Angels, the naked Child, all show ill-assimilated Florentine
influences. The Child in its unidealised humanity is the first nude
infant in Sienese art; all Sano's babes, for instance, are more or less
clothed, already dreaming divine dreams. Domenico was a native of
Asciano who came to Siena, and is said to have become the pupil of
Taddeo di Bartolo; all his work, however, is a kind of protest against
the mystical Sienese tradition in painting. Certain great frescoes of
his, which we shall see later in the Spedale, stand alone in the story
of the art of Siena. Then follow some small pictures by Sassetta (21 to
24), fairly representative. Giovanni di Paolo--a prolific and always
agreeable, if somewhat monotonous and weak painter--is more fully
represented here, in a series of Madonnas and Saints, scriptural scenes
and mediaeval legends. Two of his pictures (28 and 55) are signed and
dated 1453 and 1440 respectively. His Last Judgment (27), the predella
of a picture painted for San Domenico in 1445, is particularly
interesting; much of it is the usual tradition, but the Paradiso on our
left is full of most poetical and fanciful details, slightly reminding
us of Angelico's work in the Florentine Academy, but conceived in a
curiously different spirit. The scenes from the life of St Galganus (53)
are a favourable example of his ingenuous narrative power. When Il
Vecchietta turns from sculpture to painting, he lays aside his science
and follows the Sienese tradition with the rest. His San Bernardino (63)
has considerable interest, being to all intents and purposes a
contemporary portrait. A large altarpiece, badly preserved (67), is one
of the works that he painted as an offering for the church of the
Spedale, and is signed: "The work of Laurentius Petri, sculptor, alias
El Vecchietta, for his devotion." The shrine, painted on both sides with
figures of Andrea Gallerani and other Sienese saints, comes from the
same place. We may notice the Madonna and Child with St Francis and St
Dominic (66), by Pier Francesco Fiorentino, a Florentine priest who
painted in the latter part of the fifteenth century, and who shows
himself as reactionary as any master of Siena; his works abound at San
Gimignano and throughout the Val d'Elsa. Mr Berenson ascribes to him the
four little _trionfi_ at the other end of the present room--the
Triumphs of Death, Chastity, Love and Fame (4 to 7), partly after
Petrarch--which were at one time erroneously attributed to Andrea di
Vanni.
The next two rooms, Stanza IV. and Stanza V., are entirely devoted to
Sano di Pietro. Sano, or Ansano, is the most mystical, the most
genuinely inspired by religious devotion, of all the painters of Siena;
like Fra Angelico, his life was in perfect harmony with his art, _pictor
famosus et homo totus deditus Deo_--so is he described in the document
that registers his death--"a famous painter and a man utterly dedicated
to God"; but, unlike Angelico, he was a married man and a father of
children. In these two rooms he can be thoroughly studied in all his
phases. His brush moves in a somewhat restricted field. It is always the
Madonna with her Divine Child, surrounded by saints and adored by
Seraphim, now listening to the music of attendant Angels, now crowned by
her Son with the diadem of Paradise. Or we have saints, men and women,
rapt in ecstasy and already of another world. Sometimes monks or nuns
are introduced, kneeling at Our Lady's feet or worshipping her Child, or
the portrait of the donor--frequently (as in number 9 of Stanza IV.)
some devout nun who had it painted "for the soul of her father and of
her mother"; but such figures are always very small indeed, as though to
reduce the human element to a minimum. The faces are always very
sweet--the Angels, with the flame of the Holy Spirit resting upon their
foreheads, perhaps especially so--the colours are of that almost
shadowless brightness that the Sienese loved. Among the Sienese saints
introduced we may notice (Stanza IV., 25) the founder of the Gesuati,
the Beato Giovanni Colombini, kneeling at the Madonna's feet; he was a
leader in the religious life of Tuscany when St Catherine was a child,
and the Colombini were connected by marriage with the Benincasa.
One picture in Stanza IV. (20) is unique among Sano's works, and may be
described as a mystical treatment of contemporary history. Pope Calixtus
III. is enthroned in full pontifical robes, his cope being buckled with
the Borgia arms, while below appears Siena with the Tower of the Palazzo
and the Campanile of the Duomo; mules are being driven into the city,
laden with sacks of grain marked with the _balzana_, the muleteer being
armed and looking round in fear to see if he is pursued. In the clouds
the Madonna appears, to commend her city to the Holy Father, a scroll
bearing her words: "O worthy Pastor to my Christian people, to thee
henceforth do I render the care of Siena; to her let all thy kindly
feeling turn." And we have his answer: "Virgin Mother, dear Consort to
God, if thy Calixtus is worthy of so great a gift, nought save death
shall sever me from Siena." Though somewhat hastily painted, and though
the character of Calixtus is hardly more realised than in the case of
Giotto's popes, the historical interest of the picture, which was
executed for the Palazzo Pubblico, is considerable. In 1455, when
Piccinino the great condottiere--in secret understanding with Giberto da
Correggio, the commander of the Sienese forces, and with Ghino di Pietro
Bellanti and other traitors within the walls--was preparing to make war
upon the Republic, Calixtus (Alfonso Borgia), then newly-elected Pope,
took Siena under his protection and sent the ecclesiastical forces to
its support. He urged the Sienese to prosecute the war to the bitter
end, declared that their cause was his own. "We shall maintain inviolate
your own and the common peace and quiet of all Italy," he said to the
Captain of the People and the Priors of the Commune in a bull dated
August 14th, 1455, "even to the shedding of our own blood, if needs be."
"You have a Pope," wrote Enea Silvio Piccolomini (who was not yet
Cardinal), a few days later to the Balìa, "most affectionate towards
[Illustration: _Madonna and Child._
_Detail from Duccio's Altarpiece._]
your Republic, as you perceive; know how to take advantage of it, for
his courage is as great as his charity, nor has he anything at heart
save justice."[64] When the Balìa wanted to compromise and make peace,
Calixtus would not hear of it, but sent abundant grain and provisions
into the hungry city. This is the situation represented in the picture,
which may confidently be dated 1455; but a comparison with the Pope's
medals shows that Sano has hardly done justice to the rather striking
features of the first Pope of the House of Borgia.
There is an analogous picture by Sano in Stanza V., San Bernardino (2)
as champion of the devotion of the Holy Name, as the inscription, "I
have manifested Thy Name to men," indicates. Painted in 1460, sixteen
years after the Saint's death, it is less a contemporary portrait than
that by Lorenzo di Pietro. All the other pictures in this room are in
Sano's usual mystical style. There is an interval of thirty years
between the date of the Madonna of San Biagio (4), the saintly Bishop
whose miracles and martyrdom are so quaintly depicted in the predella,
and that of the Assumption (8, 9); but there is little, if any, advance
in technique or development in style. But no sympathetic student of
Sienese painting can ever find Sano di Pietro monotonous, or otherwise
than fascinating.
In Stanza VI., a picture by Sano di Pietro (2) in the composition of the
principal scene--the Madonna and Child surrounded by kneeling
Saints--shows a certain resemblance to Fra Angelico. In the Crucifixion
above, St Francis is receiving the stigmata, and two Franciscan nuns are
aiding the holy women to tend the Blessed Virgin; the predella, however,
is by a later hand. The chief contents of this room are the works of
Matteo di Giovanni, on the whole the most powerful and most versatile
Sienese painter of the fifteenth century, and Neroccio di Bartolommeo
Landi, a "Simone come to life again" in the air of the Renaissance.[65]
By the former are three beautiful Madonnas (5, 7, 9), somewhat varied in
type and style. By the latter, whose figures are stately and gracious
like those of his statues, very sweet and winning in expression, are the
large enthroned Madonna and Saints (8); four smaller pictures (11, 13,
14, 22), in two of which no one can fail to be struck with the painter's
exquisite realisation of the personality of St Catherine; and the signed
and dated Madonna and Child of 1476, with St Michael and San Bernardino
(19), one of the master's earlier works. Francesco di Giorgio Martini is
represented by three very small pictures (15, 16, 17) of Old Testament
scenes, an Annunciation (21), and three Madonnas (20, 23, 24). We have
also some interesting works by lesser masters. By Pietro di Domenico
(1457-1501), who was influenced by the Umbrians, is the Adoration of the
Shepherds with St Galganus and St Martin (3), the Galganus having struck
his sword into the rock at the Divine Child's feet; the date seems to
read 1400, only because the latter part has been obliterated. By
Guidoccio Cozzarelli (1450-1516) are a Saint Sebastian (25) and Our Lady
as protector of the Arts (29), the Queen of the Artisans.
Stanza VII. contains unimportant fragments and engravings.
With the opening of the Cinquecento, Siena grew dissatisfied with the
antiquated methods of her native artists. Three mediocre painters,
indeed, carried on their traditional manner well into the sixteenth
century: Bernardino Fungai (1460-1516), Girolamo di Benvenuto
(1470-1524), the son of Benvenuto di Giovanni, and Giacomo Pacchiarotti
(1474-1540), Fungai's pupil, a turbulent fellow, whose pusillanimous,
half-crazy attempts to pose as a political revolutionary are
immortalised in a _novella_ by Pietro Fortini and a poem by Robert
Browning. But in the meanwhile, better masters had been brought to Siena
from other cities; Luca Signorelli and his pupil, Girolamo Genga, from
Cortona and Urbino, had come to decorate the palace of the Magnifico;
Bernardino Pinturicchio of Perugia had been hired by the Piccolomini,
and his great fellow-citizen, Pietro Perugino, was painting altarpieces
for Sant'Agostino and San Francesco.
And, greater than any of these, there came one whom Siena made her own:
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (1477-1549), presently to be known as Sodoma. The
son of an artisan of Vercelli, Bazzi had gone to Milan and fallen under
the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, though it is doubtful whether he
actually became his pupil. In 1501 certain merchants, agents of the
Spannocchi, brought the young man to Siena, with which city--save for
the short period from 1508 to 1510, when he worked in Rome mainly for
the rich Sienese banker, Agostino Chigi--he was henceforth associated.
Morelli regarded Bazzi as "the most important and gifted artist of the
school of Leonardo--the one who is most easily confounded with the great
master himself." Frequently careless and very unequal in his execution,
the exquisite beauty of his women's faces can hardly be surpassed; and
"in his best moments, when he brought all his powers into play, Sodoma
produced works which are worthy to rank with the most perfect examples
of Italian art."[66] He was a wild and reckless fellow enough in his
life, passionately addicted to horse-racing, and a lover of strange
beasts and birds. Of these latter he kept a whole collection round him,
great and small of every kind that he could get, until, in Vasari's
phrase, "his house seemed verily to be the Ark of Noah." In a list of
his goods which Bazzi drew up for taxation in 1531, eight race-horses
and a number of these other creatures are set down, and the catalogue
ends--may my fair readers pardon me the quotation!--with "tre bestiacce
cattive, che son tre donne."
[Illustration: _Bastion outside Porta Pispini erected by Baldassare
Peruzzi_]
These varied influences combined with that of Florence to produce
eclecticism; "a most singular and charming eclecticism, saved from the
pretentiousness and folly usually controlling such movements by the
sense for grace and beauty even to the last seldom absent from the
Sienese."[67] The three principal Sienese painters of this kind are
Girolamo del Pacchia (1477-1535), Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536), and
Domenico di Giacomo di Pace (1486-1550), called Mecarino or Beccafumi.
Girolamo del Pacchia was the son of a Hungarian father and a Sienese
mother; he learned the first principles of art in Siena (probably from
Fungai), and then went to Florence and Rome, returning to Siena in 1508
where he soon fell under Bazzi's influence. Like Pacchiarotti (with whom
he used to be confused) Girolamo became involved in plots and
conspiracies, and was forced to fly from Siena. Baldassare Peruzzi is
one of the most famous architects of the Renaissance. As a painter he
first worked under Pinturicchio, then went to Rome where he laboured
much for the Popes and Agostino Chigi, falling under the influence of
Bazzi and later of Raphael, whom he succeeded as chief architect of San
Pietro. In the sack of Rome he was taken by the Spaniards, cruelly
tortured, and escaped to Siena in a state of abject poverty. The Sienese
made him public architect to the Republic, and afterwards Capomaestro of
the Duomo. There are a number of buildings attributed to him in Siena,
mostly doubtful. He ended his days in the Eternal City, working on the
fabric of San Pietro. Of Baldassare's paintings Siena only possesses a
few of his earliest and some of his very latest. Domenico di Giacomo was
the son of a contadino on the estate of Lorenzo Beccafumi (whom we have
already met in the political field) in the plain of the Cortine near
Montaperti. Lorenzo found him, like Giotto, drawing on the sand and
stones the movements of the animals under his charge, took him into his
household, had him taught to paint, and gave him his own family name.
"Domenico was a virtuous and excellent person," says Vasari, "and
studious in his art, but excessively solitary." He worked at Rome, Genoa
and other places, but told his friend and admirer, Vasari, that he could
do nothing away from the air of Siena. At different epochs he imitated
Perugino, Bazzi, Fra Bartolommeo, even Michelangelo; an unequal but
imaginative painter, he excels in the treatment of light and shade. Two
other artists of this epoch deserve special mention--Andrea Piccinelli,
called Del Brescianino, the son of a Brescian, who painted between 1507
and 1525, first following Girolamo del Pacchia, afterwards imitating Fra
Bartolommeo; and Bartolommeo Neroni, called Il Riccio, whose work
belongs to the middle of the century, the son-in-law and chief pupil of
Bazzi. To complete the sketch of Sienese art in the first half of the
Cinquecento, we must add a painter who comes slightly earlier than these
two: Matteo Balducci, a native of the Perugian contado, who appears
originally to have been Pinturicchio's assistant and pupil, and
afterwards to have become a pupil of Bazzi.[68] His work, however, shows
no trace of the influence of the latter master, but is purely Umbrian in
character.
In Stanza VIII., besides a series of small pictures painted for the
Confraternity of Fontegiusta (1, 2, 35, 36), is Bazzi's famous fresco of
Christ at the Column (27), even in its damaged condition unmistakably
divine. His Judith (29) is likewise a work of great beauty; but the St
Catherine ascribed to him (32) is unworthy alike of the painter and of
the subject. The two frescoes (8, 9), representing a Ransom of Prisoners
and the Flight of Aeneas from Troy, come from the palace of Pandolfo
Petrucci; they were executed by Girolamo Genga, but the composition is
probably by Luca Signorelli. Two Madonnas (12 and 30) are ascribed by Mr
Berenson to Girolamo del Pacchia. By Matteo Balducci are an Angel (21)
and the Madonna and Child, with St Catherine and San Bernardino (34).
There is also a Madonna (26) by Girolamo Magagni, called Giomo, a pupil
of Bazzi's, who robbed his master's studio while the latter lay sick in
Florence. Both in this room and the next there is some excellent wood
carving by Antonio Barili.
The gems of Stanza IX. are two pictures hung under the name of
Pinturicchio--a Nativity (28), which Mr Berenson attributes to Matteo
Balducci, and a Madonna and Child holding a pomegranate, with the little
St John, against a gold background (29), recognised by the same
authority as an early work of Baldassare Peruzzi. We have several
Madonnas by Fungai (1, 21, 23, 24, 33); five Saints by Pacchiarotti (5);
a whole series of Umbrian pictures--Saints (2, 37), Virtues (10, 11, 15,
19), and a Madonna (17)--attributed to Balducci by Mr Berenson. By
Balducci is also the Madonna and Child with St Jerome and St Francis
(14). There are dated pictures by Guidoccio Cozzarelli (7) of 1482, and
by Andrea di Niccolò (8), an unimportant painter of the end of the
Quattrocento. The Trinità, with the two St Johns, St Cosmas and St
Damian, is one of Beccafumi's earliest and best works; it was painted in
1512 for the Spedale, as the presence of the two patrons of the healing
art--a kind of mediaeval duplication of Aesculapius--indicates.
The long hall, Stanza X., contains larger pictures of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. The arrangement being rather confused, it will,
perhaps, be best to take them more or less chronologically. By Matteo di
Giovanni are three smaller Madonnas near the entrance--one (12) being
rather doubtful--and an important altarpiece of the Madonna and Child
with Angels and Saints (36). Guidoccio Cozzarelli is represented by a St
Catherine exchanging hearts with the Christ (4), Vecchietta by the
interesting sketch (5) for his bronze tabernacle that is now on the high
altar of the Duomo, Francesco di Giorgio by a signed Nativity of our
Lord (41) and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin (44)--two large
pictures curiously lacking the usual Sienese grace and refinement,
showing to some extent the influence of Signorelli. A worthless picture
of the Passion (29), which should not even questionably be connected
with this painter's name, shows the Sienese school at its weakest and
worst. Benvenuto di Giovanni is seen to considerable advantage in a
triptych (39), signed and dated 1475; the central compartment, the
Madonna and Child with Angels, is particularly attractive. His Ascension
of Christ (37), on the other hand, from the church of Sant' Eugenio,
signed and dated 1491, is rather harsh and uninspired. By Fungai are a
Madonna with Saints (30), signed and dated 1512, and an Assumption (45),
a subject in which the painter succeeded better elsewhere. It is not
easy to distinguish the early style of Pacchiarotti from that of Fungai;
the altarpiece (14) is said to be by the master and pupil in
collaboration; the Ascension (24), with its predella (23), dry and hard
with uncouth and unrefined types, and the Visitation (31), in which the
white-robed girlish Madonna has much sweetness and charm, are by
Pacchiarotti. Girolamo di Benvenuto is represented by the best picture
he ever painted (which, after all, is rather faint praise), signed and
dated 1508, representing the Madonna and Child attended by Angels and
Saints (17), with the two St Catherines kneeling before the throne--the
Alexandrian of the Wheels being obviously an excellent portrait of a
young Sienese lady of the Cinquecento.
The famous Deposition from the Cross (13) is an early work by Bazzi,
practically the first important picture that he painted on his first
coming to Siena; it is entirely in the Lombard or Milanese style,
recalling the work of Luini. The scenes in the predella are by another
hand. The Prayer in the Garden (2) and the Descent into Limbo (46), the
remains of a series of frescoes which he painted for the Compagnia di
Santa Croce, are later and have suffered from restoration; in the latter
the figure of Eve is exceedingly lovely, one of those exquisite
presentments of women in which this painter excels. Girolamo del Pacchia
is represented by an Annunciation and Visitation (7), painted in 1518, a
beautiful work, showing the influence
[Illustration: VIA GIOVANNI DUPRÈ]
of Albertinelli. An attractive _tondo_ ascribed to him, the Holy Family
with St Antony of Padua (35), was given back by Morelli to its proper
author, Girolamo Genga. A very Perugian Nativity (26), hung as
Pinturicchio, is ascribed by Mr Berenson to Balducci, by whom is also
the predella (25), belonging to a picture that we shall see in Santo
Spirito--an excellent little work representing the Pietà between the
reception of the Stigmata by St Francis and St Catherine respectively.
By Andrea del Brescianino is an uninteresting altarpiece (9), with a
predella (8); while of Bartolommeo Neroni's pictures the best is the
Coronation of the Madonna (47), with its predella (49), from the church
of San Francesco in Asciano.
But, of all the later Sienese, Domenico Beccafumi is best represented
here. His Reception of the Stigmata by St Catherine, with St Benedict
and St Jerome (22), the three smaller scenes from her life (19, 20, 21)
forming its predella--her receiving the Dominican habit, her miraculous
Communion, her mystical Espousals--is one of the most beautiful pictures
in the whole range of Sienese art. It was painted for the Olivetan
convent of St Benedict outside the Porta Tufi. "This picture," wrote
Vasari, "for its harmonious colouring and excellent modelling, was and
is still greatly praised. Likewise in the predella he did certain
stories in distemper with incredible spirit and vivacity, and with such
facility in drawing that they could not have greater grace, and
nevertheless seem done without a trouble in the world." The treatment of
light and shade is admirable. This is one of his earlier works; the
Birth of Mary (6) is later and less excellent, but praised by Vasari for
its effects of light. The unfinished Fall of the Rebel Angels (25),
confused in composition and mannered in style, shows Beccafumi at his
worst. It struck Vasari as something original, _una pioggia d'ignudi
molto bella_, "a right lovely rain of nude figures," and he admired and
wondered at their foreshortening, _certi scorti d'ignudi bellissimi_.
The Descent of Christ into Limbo (28), from San Francesco, is a far
nobler thing--the Penitent Thief, following the Saviour, is very
strikingly conceived and executed. Here also are several of Beccafumi's
cartoons for the pavement of the Duomo, chiefly scenes from the history
of Moses and Aaron, with one from that of Elijah. Ascribed to him is
also the _tondo_ (34) of the Madonna and Child with two Saints.
Over the door to Stanza XI. is a frescoed Last Supper of 1595 by
Bernardo Poccetti, from the Certosa di Pontignano. Stanza XI. contains a
number of pictures of different schools, mostly unimportant. There are
two Saints, St Mary Magdalene (3) and St Catherine of Alexandria (115)
of 1512, ascribed to Fra Bartolommeo, but certainly the work of Mariotto
Albertinelli; and an Annunciation (7) by the Venetian Paris Bordone. Two
_tondi_ are among the greatest treasures of the gallery: the Holy Family
by Pinturicchio (45), a work of exquisite beauty and poetic sentiment;
and the Adoration of the Divine Child (11) by Bazzi. The latter, painted
for the Hermitage of Lecceto, is one of the earliest works that Bazzi
executed in Siena, and represents, as Signor Frizzoni has noted, a
certain union of Tuscan taste with the artist's native Lombard manner.
During the last quarter of the sixteenth and the first quarter of the
seventeenth century a number of capable artists upheld, not unworthily,
the traditions of Sienese painting: Arcangiolo Salimbeni and his son
Ventura, Alessandro Casolani, Pietro Sorri, Francesco Vanni, Francesco
Rustici (Rustichino) and Rutilio Manetti, whose works are still for the
most part in the churches for which they were painted. Rutilio Manetti,
who died in 1639, may be regarded as the last of the great line of
Sienese artists. But even in the nineteenth century the names of
Giovanni Duprè, in sculpture, and Amos Cassioli (a native, like Domenico
di Bartolo, of Asciano), in painting, have won renown beyond the walls
of Siena.
CHAPTER V
_The Campo of Siena and the Palace of the Commune_
At the heart of Siena, where its three hills meet, is the famous Piazza
upon which so many of the stormiest scenes in the history of the city
have been enacted: the Campo, now known officially as the Piazza
Vittorio Emanuele. It is a semicircular space, the central portion paved
with brick and curiously resembling the concavity of a shell bordered by
a stone pavement, surrounded with what were once aristocratic palaces.
It is entered by narrow streets, which in stormy times could be securely
held by mere handfuls of armed men. On the southern side of the Piazza,
built as it were upon the diameter of the semicircle, rises that perfect
ideal of a republican home of the State--the superb Gothic Palazzo
Pubblico, perhaps better known as the Palazzo Comunale or the Palazzo
dei Signori. Pandolfo Petrucci conceived the idea of surrounding the
Piazza with a _porticato_, and is said to have commissioned Baldassare
Peruzzi to carry out the plan; the Balìa revived the notion at a
subsequent period in 1547, long after the fall of the Petrucci, but
nothing came of it.
In the Campo is the fountain, known as the Fonte Gaia from the
rejoicings that hailed the advent of its waters. On Whitsunday, 1343,
the water was brought into the fountain from the Fontebranda, and a
fortnight of wild festivity followed. "There was such rejoicing in
Siena, such dancing and such illumination," writes the old chronicler,
"that it would seem incredible if it were told, nor could anyone believe
it who had not seen it." Soon after the completion of the work a
beautiful marble Venus was discovered, which is said to have borne the
signature of Lysippus. The Sienese were mad with delight, and the
artists rushed to worship this divine relic of antiquity--_questa tanta
maraviglia e tanta arte_, as Ghiberti, the teller of the tale, calls
it--which was finally carried in state to the fountain and enthroned
upon it. But things went badly with the Republic; factions ran riot,
famine and pestilence ravaged the city. The Twelve who now ruled were
less liberal and more ignorant than the Nine, and at length a worthy
citizen in the Senate declared that such idolatry was forbidden by the
Christian faith; that all their misfortunes came from the presence of
this statue, which should straightway be smashed to pieces and buried in
Florentine territory. This act of vandalism appears to have been
perpetrated. At least, in the Books of the Deliberations of the
_Concistoro_ there is an entry under November 7th, 1357, to the effect
that the marble statue, at present placed upon the fountain of the
Campo, shall be taken away as soon as possible, and dealt with in
whatever way shall seem best to the _Signori Dodici_.[69] In the
following century Giacomo della Quercia was commissioned to make the
marble fountain, from which he was afterwards known as Giacomo della
Fonte; he produced a work which has been described as deservedly ranking
"among the model fountains of the world." The present fountain is only a
modern and incomplete copy, but the mutilated remains of Giacomo's work
are still to be seen in the Opera del Duomo.
Something will have been gathered from the preceding chapters of the
faction fights that have swept over the Campo and raged round the
Palace. Here, too, in one of those fevers of piety that overtook the
Sienese at intervals, vast crowds assembled to listen to the burning
words of San Bernardino. Specially famous are the discourses that he
delivered here in the August and September of 1427, immediately after he
had refused the Bishopric of Siena. He had been specially urged to come,
not only by the Commune, but by the Pope and the late Bishop, to allay
the bitterness of the rival factions within the city. "Ah, my children!"
he said, "no longer follow these parties, nor these standards, for you
see to what they bring us. You have the example in the time that is
passed, how evilly things have fallen out of old for many. Ah! be at
peace in your own home." And again, in his last sermon: "There still
remain many peaces for us to make. I pray you hold me excused, and so I
believe that you accept my excuse. You must consider that I have had
many things to attend to in these sermons. Ah! for the love of God, love
one another. Alas! see you not that, if you love the destruction, one of
the other, what followeth to you therefrom? See you not that you are
ruining your very selves? Ah! put this thing right, for the love of God;
do not wait for God to lay His hands upon us with His scourge; for if
you leave it to Him to do, you will be chastised for it. Love one
another! What I have done, to make peace among you and to make you like
brothers, I have done with that zeal that I should wish my own soul to
receive. And so say I of this, as of the other things of the Commune; I
have done it all to the glory and honour of God, and for the weal and
salvation of your souls. As I have told you, I have treated you as true
children; and I tell you more, that if I could take you by the hair, I
would pacify the whole lot of you. And let no one think that I have set
myself to do anything at any person's request. I am only moved by the
bidding of God, for His honour and glory."[70]
Here is a scene of another kind, from the _Diari_ of Allegretto, under
July 1463, when the Duchess of Calabria with a train of Apulian nobles
visited Siena:
"In honour of the said Duchess, there was arranged by the Arts a most
beauteous pageant and dance at the foot of the Palace of the Signori,
and there were invited as many worthy young women and girls as Siena
had, who came right well adorned with robes and jewels, and young men to
dance. And there was made a great she-wolf, all gilded, out of which
came a morris-dance of twelve persons, right well and richly adorned,
and one dressed like a nun, and they danced to a canzone that begins:
'She won't be a nun any more.' And at the said dance a goodly collation
was provided of marchpanes and other cates in abundance, with fruit of
every kind according to the season. To the said Duchess and her nobles
it seemed a fair thing and a rich pageant, and that she-wolf pleased
them immensely, and they thought that we had lovely women."
On June 19th, 1482, when the factions that preceded the expulsion of the
Noveschi were at their height, a preacher of a very different stamp to
Bernardino appeared upon the scenes: the future opponent of Savonarola,
Fra Mariano, the favourite of the Medici. "Maestro Mariano da
Genazzano," writes Allegretto, "of the Osservanti of St Augustine,
preached at the foot of the Palace of the Signori, to the Signoria, the
Cardinal and all the People, the Signoria with the People having first
gone to the Duomo to fetch the Madonna delle Grazie with the
baldacchino. And the preacher's introit was: _Every kingdom divided
against itself shall be brought to desolation_, which he repeated three
times, each time raising his voice higher. And when the sermon was
finished, they brought back the Madonna to the Duomo with all the
People."[71]
No less characteristic of Siena than her faction fights and her
preachers of peace are the wild games that the Sienese played, the mad
races that they ran and still run round the Campo. The oldest of these
was the _Giuoco delle Pugna_--a furious game of fisticuffs which
sometimes ended seriously. In 1324, on the Sunday before the Carnival,
there was a desperate _giuoco delle pugna_ here, 600 a side, the Terzi
of San Martino and Camollia engaging the Terzo di Città. The latter was
driven off the ground. Then they set to with stones and sticks, and
presently with swords and lances and darts, "and so great grew the
uproar in the Campo that it seemed that the world was going upside down,
by reason of the vast crowd that drew together." The soldiers of the
Commune, the Captain, the Podestà, the Nine strove in vain to stop it.
Several of the soldiers were killed; armed men poured into the Campo;
the Saracini and the Scotti, whose palaces looked out upon the scene,
hurled stones from their windows, and the mob in return tried to fire
their houses. The secular authority proving helpless, at length the
Bishop with the priests and friars of all the religious orders in Siena
came into the Campo, with a processional cross in front of them, and
passed through the thick of the battle, until it slackened and the
combatants drew asunder. A peculiar variety of the _Giuoco delle Pugna_
were the _Asinate_ or donkey-fights. These were exhibited by the
_contrade_--those popular associations, for sport and other purposes,
into which Siena is still divided. Each contrada that took part came
into the Campo with its captain and ancients (allow me this Elizabethan
rendering of _alfieri_, the youths who carry the banners of the
contrade), with thirty _pugillatori_ and an ass painted in the colours
of the contrada. No arms of any sort were allowed--not even a ring on
the finger--under severe penalties, corporal and financial; but almost
any other sort of violence was permitted. The struggle was to force
these donkeys round the Campo, in spite of all the efforts of the rival
contrade, and the one that first completed two rounds was the winner. In
later years the _Asinate_ gave place to the less exciting
_Buffalate_--races with buffaloes. Last remnants of these departed
glories are races which are now run twice a year--on the festivals of
our Lady's Visitation (July 2nd) and of her Assumption (August
15th)--with mounted horses by the contrade. The race is still called the
Palio, from the rich stuff (now represented by a banner) given as prize.
No one who cares for Siena and the Sienese should miss any opportunity
of seeing these races as often as he can; for in no other way can he
enter into the peculiar spirit of this most picturesque of Tuscan
peoples.[72]
It is a far cry from these things to Dante, to whom we owe the story of
Provenzano Salvani's act of humility in this place. But Boccaccio has
given us a vivid picture of the poet himself at one of these typical
Sienese entertainments, which would seem to have been a tournament in
the Campo. Dante had found a little book in an apothecary's shop, "which
book was of much fame amongst men of worth, and had never yet been seen
by him. And as it befell, not having leisure to take it to some other
place, he leant with his breast against the bench that stood before the
apothecary's and set the book before him, and began most eagerly to
examine it; and although soon after, in that very district, right before
him, by occasion of some general festival of the Sienese, a great
tournament was begun and carried through by certain noble youths, and
therewith the mightiest din of them around--as in like cases is wont to
come about, with various instruments and with applauding shouts--and
although many other things took place such as might draw one to look on
them, as dances of fair ladies, and many sports of youths, yet was there
never a one that saw him stir thence, nor once raise his eyes from the
book."
The superb Palace of the Commune of Siena--built between 1288 and 1308
to house the Podestà with his _famiglia_, or household, and the members
of the Signoria--is essentially the architectural and pictorial monument
of the government of the Nine. Like several other Gothic palaces in the
city, it is partly in grey stone, partly in red brick. Needless to say,
the façade tells us a later and more comprehensive story; over every
door and window is the _balzana_, the black and white shield of the
Commune, but in the centre, between it and the lion shield of the
People, are the arms of Duke Cosimo, the sign of the death of the
Republic. Above all, rises the mystical monogram of the Divine Name,
bringing us back to Bernardino. The tall soaring tower, known as the
Torre del Mangia, was begun in 1338 and finished in 1348 or 1349; it has
recently been discovered that its architects were two brothers from
[Illustration: THE PALAZZO PUBBLICO]
Perugia, Minuccio and Francesco di Rinaldo, and that the upper part was
designed by the painter, Lippo Memmi, in 1341.[73] The Chapel at the
foot of the tower was begun in 1348, "for a certain miracle that Our
Lady the Virgin Mary did"--or at least vowed in that year, as a memorial
of deliverance from the Black Death, and built in the third quarter of
the fourteenth century. The upper part, with its beautiful frieze of
griffins, is the work of Antonio Federighi, and dates from 1460. The
statues of saints in their niches merely show to what depths Sienese
sculpture had sunk by the latter part of the fourteenth century, before
the rise of Giacomo della Quercia. The ruined and restored fresco is
Bazzi's last work in Siena. He promised in 1537 that he would have it
done by the Feast of Our Lady in August for 60 golden scudi, but went
off for a holiday to Piombino after beginning it, and did not return to
complete the work till the following year. The door behind the chapel
leads into a picturesque and deserted court, with a faded fifteenth
century fresco and a number of old armorial bearings on the walls.
The Lupa of gilded bronze on the column to the right of the Palace marks
the entrance to the apartments of the Signoria. Over the door, two very
lean wolves are adoring the crowned Lion of the People. We ascend the
steps to the first floor, into a magnificent series of rooms, glowing
with masterpieces of Sienese painting. The first room--variously called
the _Sala delle Balestre_, the _Sala del Mappamondo_, and the _Sala del
Gran Consiglio_--is now a law-court. Here at one epoch the Consiglio
della Campana, or Senate, at others the minor councils of the State met.
The whole wall above the place of the president of the court is occupied
by a vast fresco by Simone Martini painted in 1315, "right marvellously
coloured," as Ghiberti calls it. Our Lady, enthroned as Queen of Siena,
is holding up the Divine Child standing on her knees to bless the
deliberations of the Council; Apostles and the Baptist hold the poles of
the canopy, Virgin Martyrs and Angels stand in attendance, while two
kneeling Angels offer flowers on behalf of Siena's four sainted
patrons--Ansanus, Savinus, Crescentius and Victor. All the faces have
the winning sweetness and spiritual loveliness that we find throughout
the works of the Sienese school. At the foot of the throne is a poetical
inscription: "The angelical flowers, roses and lilies, wherewith the
celestial meadow is adorned, do not delight me more than good counsels.
But sometimes I see one who, to exalt himself, despises me and deceives
my city; and when he speaks worse, he is more praised by each one whom
these words condemn." And along the base of the picture is their Queen's
answer to the prayers of the Saints: "My beloved ones, be assured that I
will make your devout chaste prayers content, as you shall wish. But if
the potent oppress the weak, harassing them with shames and harms, your
prayers are not for these, nor for whoso deceives my city."
Such being the ideal basis of Siena's policy, we are now given a series
of her victories. On the opposite wall, painted by Simone in 1328, is a
mediaeval warrior, Guidoriccio, riding alone, fully armed save for the
head, his baton of command in his hand, his steed gorgeously
caparisoned. The face is an admirable piece of portraiture. Behind him
lie the camp of the Sienese and the captured castle from which the
banner of the Commune floats. On either hand are preparations for
storming the town in front; but he proudly rides forward alone, to
summon it to surrender. Guidoriccio dei Fogliani of Reggio was elected
Captain of War in Siena for six months in 1326, and afterwards confirmed
so many times in the office that he kept it for seven years. In 1328,
when the power of Castruccio degli Interminelli was at its height in
Tuscany, he led the Sienese against Montemassi (the town represented in
the fresco), repulsed the forces sent by Castruccio to its relief and
forced it to surrender. In 1329 he put down a formidable bread-riot in
the Campo, and in 1331 he won a great victory over the Pisans under the
walls of Massa, after which he had himself dubbed a knight on the field
of battle and returned to Siena in triumph. He died in 1352, and the
Commune gave him a sumptuous public funeral in San Domenico.
Two later battle-scenes are on the wall opposite the windows. First is
the great victory gained by the Sienese over the Company of the Cappello
in October 1363, at Torrita, in the Valdichiana. After a vain attempt to
come to terms, the Sienese hired four hundred German men-at-arms, and
took the field with the forces of the city and the contado under Ceccolo
degli Orsini, the Captain-General of the Commune. Before marching out of
Siena, the republican army was put under the protection of St Paul the
Apostle--apparently because the Christian name of the then Prior of the
Twelve was Paolo. Orders had been given not to risk a battle; but, as
soon as they came up with the enemy, the Germans set upon them, and the
Captain with the Sienese following, a complete victory was gained. On
the left of the fresco St Paul, with drawn sword, is seated at the gate
of Siena, surrounded by warrior Angels. We see the advancing host of the
Sienese, in front of which the splendid mercenary cavalry has already
burst upon the ranks of the Company and broken through them, while on
the right the rout is complete. The Sienese treated their prisoners
magnificently; they deprived Ceccolo of his command, for having
disobeyed their orders, but knighted him and heaped honours and presents
upon him. The Twelve gave a solemn banquet in the Palace to him and his
officers, presented him with a palfrey covered with silk, a sword of
honour, a suit of armour and a golden crown, with double pay to his
troops and household. A solemn Mass was celebrated in the Duomo, with
great offerings to the miraculous Madonna, and the Twelve commissioned
Lippo di Vanni to paint the fresco in memory of the glorious event. The
second fresco, more than a hundred years later, was painted by Giovanni
di Cristofano and Francesco d'Andrea in 1480, a record of the epoch when
Duke Alfonso of Calabria was virtually the arbiter of Siena's destinies.
It represents the battle of Poggio Imperiale, near Poggibonsi, in
September 1479, the chief action in the war in which Duke Ercole of
Ferrara held the baton of command of the Italian league that defended
Florence against the allied powers of Rome and Naples, led by the Dukes
of Calabria and Urbino. In the temporary absence of Ercole from the seat
of war, Alfonso stormed the camp of the league. The painters have
represented it as a triumph of Siena over Florence. On the left the
Florentines are flying from the field, their condottiere Costanzo Sforza
leading the rout, and the standard of the red lily is being lowered from
every battlement and tower. Beneath the banners of the Church, Naples
and Siena, the allies--led by "El Possa," a Sienese named Domenico di
Michele, who was in the service of the Duke of Calabria--are driving the
defeated army before them; in the centre are Alfonso and the Duke of
Urbino; reinforcements are advancing on the right, while in the
background the light armed foot-soldiers are sacking the Florentine
tents.
On the wall under the portrait of Guidoriccio is the famous old picture
of the Madonna from San Domenico, by Guido da Siena. The date upon the
picture appears originally to have been 1281. The frescoes on either
side--St Ansanus baptising the Sienese and St Victor protecting the
shield of Liberty--are by Bazzi, painted in 1529. The blessed Bernardo
Tolomei, founder of Monte Oliveto, is also Bazzi's, painted in 1534.
These three figures--with their lovely attendant _putti_--are among the
finest of his works. Between the next two arches are San Bernardino by
Sano di Pietro and St Catherine by Vecchietta. The last of the series,
B. Ambrogio Sansedoni, is more modern.
Out of this hall we pass into the _Sala della Pace_, originally called
the _Sala dei Nove_, where the Nine met during that most glorious epoch
in Sienese history when they held sway. In 1337 they appointed Ambrogio
Lorenzetti to decorate their meeting-place with allegorical frescoes. We
see the master's signature, _Ambrosius Laurentii de Senis_, under the
great fresco--the first of the series--on the wall opposite the window.
Here on our left is Justice, enthroned as Queen, inspired from above by
the crowned genius of Celestial Wisdom. Over her head is the text from
the _Wisdom of Solomon_, which Dante's spirits of righteous rulers
formed in that sixth sphere of Paradise that is swayed by the celestial
Dominations: "Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth." On
her right and left respectively, the Angel of Distributive Justice
crowns one and beheads another, the Angel of Commutative Justice gives
weapons to one and money to another. At her feet sits Concord, a
beautiful woman upon whose brow rests the pentecostal tongue of fire;
she holds two cords that proceed from the scales of Justice, uniting the
twenty-four citizens who pass in procession to the feet of the Commune
of Siena. This is represented by a majestic old man, richly clothed in
robes that show the black and white of the republican shield, royally
crowned. The mystical cord of union is attached to his sceptre, and in
his other hand he holds an image of the Blessed Virgin, whom the
Sienese had chosen for their Sovereign Lady. He sits above the Wolf and
the Twins. Faith, Hope and Charity hover above his head; Prudence and
Fortitude, Magnanimity and Temperance are his assessors. Beyond them, on
the right of the throne, reclines golden-haired Peace, in her clinging
white robe; and on the left, Legal Justice sits, with a crown and a
severed head on her lap. Around are steel-clad warriors, horse and
foot--the armed forces of the Republic--while to the gate of the city
men come offering "censi, tributi e signorie di terre," as one of the
verses of the inscription, which is probably Ambrogio's own, puts it;
prisoners are led in in fetters, and others are rigorously kept
excluded--for the mediaeval mind can hardly conceive of good government
without _fuorusciti_.
On the right wall are shown the effects of good government, the rule of
Justice. "Turn your eyes to gaze upon her who is figured here--O ye that
rule!--and who is crowned for her excellence"; so runs the inscription.
"Behold what great good things come from her, and how sweet and restful
is the life of the city where that virtue is preserved that gloweth back
more than any other." Within the city are dancing and feasting; the
shops are full and trade flourishes; cavalcades of dames and cavaliers
pass through the streets. Beyond the walls unarmed trains pass out to
the chase; the fields are cultivated, the peasants fearlessly bringing
their produce into the city. In the distance is the sea--for the
righteous republic will have commerce and become a maritime power--and a
harbour said to represent Talamone. Over all hovers Security, a winged
woman with a little gallows and a scroll: "Without fear may every one
travel freely and each man work and sow, whilst the Commune will
maintain this Lady in signory, for she has taken all power from the
wicked."
On the opposite wall is Evil Government, the fruits of Injustice.
Tyranny, a hideous horned monster, with dagger and poisoned cup, sits
enthroned above a goat. Avarice, Pride and Vainglory float over him.
Foul and horrible shapes sit round him as ministers: Cruelty (torturing
a child), Treason and Fraud, Fury, Division and War. At his feet lies
Justice--dishevelled, overthrown, bound. Murder and outrage wanton
within and without the walls; the smiling fields are devastated, while
at the gate of the ruined, bloodstained city hovers the dark and ragged
demon of Fear, with a scroll: "Through selfish ambition in this city has
Justice been subjected to Tyranny; wherefore by this way no one passes
without dread of death: for without and within the gates they
plunder."[74]
Beyond the _Sala delle Balestre_ is the Chapel of the Palace. The
antechapel, the walls and the roof of the chapel itself are covered with
frescoes by Taddeo di Bartolo--frescoes that are the first great Sienese
achievement in painting in the Quattrocento--executed between 1406 and
1414. On the walls and arches of the antechapel are Roman heroes and
philosophers of antiquity; Apollo and Minerva, Jupiter and Mars; a view
of the Eternal City; and, over the door that leads into the room
adjoining the consistory, a gigantic St Christopher. The Sienese claim,
not without reason, that Perugino himself imitated these frescoes nearly
a hundred years later, in the Sala del Cambio at Perugia. In the chapel
are saints and Angels and the four closing scenes of the Madonna's life;
her farewell to the Apostles, her death, her being carried upon the
bier, and lastly her Assumption--the Divine Son sweeping down with
Cherubim and Seraphim to draw His Mother from the grave. Among all the
Italian pictures of the Assumption, Taddeo's still can hold its own for
its vividness and originality. For the rest, the whole chapel is a
perfect gem of the arts and crafts of the early Quattrocento. The holy
water stoop is by Giovanni di Turino, the iron railing by Giacomo di
Giovanni; the beautiful stalls of the choir, carved and inlaid with
illustrations to the Nicene Creed, were executed by Domenico di Niccolò,
afterwards called Domenico del Coro, between 1415 and 1428, and may
possibly have been designed by Taddeo di Bartolo. Under the Nativity, on
the little wooden door between the chapel and the _Sala di Balìa_ is the
Wheel of Fortune, on which man is seen transformed to ass as he rises,
recovering human shape as he falls. To a later period belong only the
organ with Siena's wolf, which is a work of the early Cinquecento, and
the altarpiece. The latter, by Bazzi and one of his later works, was
originally in the Duomo; it represents the Madonna and Child with St
Joseph and St Calixtus, with a beautiful landscape background in which
the ruins of ancient Rome are seen. "This work," says Vasari, "is
likewise held to be very beautiful, inasmuch as one sees that Sodoma in
colouring it used much more diligence than he was wont to do in his
things."
We pass next into a small passage or anteroom, out of which the _Sala di
Concistoro_ opens on the left, the _Sala di Balìa_ on the right. In the
former, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Signoria met, the
nominal governors of the State; in the latter, the Collegio di Balìa,
the select committee that in reality held the Republic in its hands.
There are bits of old fresco in this waiting room--Madonnas and Saints,
a kneeling magistrate watched over by his celestial patron--and several
panels of the Quattrocento; especially a Madonna and Child with four
Angels in an old frame, dated 1484, by Matteo di Giovanni, and San
Bernardino preaching in the Campo and liberating a possessed woman after
his death, ascribed by Mr Berenson to Vecchietta.
The _Sala di Concistoro_, with a marble doorway ascribed to Giacomo
della Quercia, has a ceiling covered with frescoes by Domenico
Beccafumi, painted between 1529 and 1535--precisely at the time when his
rival, Bazzi, was working on his saints in the other hall. They
represent scenes from Roman and Greek history, with allegorical figures
of Concord and Justice, and are extravagantly praised by Vasari, who
declares that the Justice in particular is painted "so powerfully that
it is a marvel." The foreshortening, the effects of light and shade are
certainly exceedingly clever; but it is a little too much to say, as
Lanzi does, that "Beccafumi should be called the Correggio of lower
Italy."
The pictorial decorations of the _Sala di Balìa_ were commissioned by
the Signoria in 1407, and begun in the following year. The Virtues on
the ceiling are by Martino di Bartolommeo Sensi, a Sienese painter who
belonged to the order of the Riformatori and whose chief works are in
the neighbourhood of Pisa. The scenes on the walls are by Spinello
Aretino, the Aretine who ranks as the last of the Giotteschi and who was
then nearly eighty years old, and his son Parri. They represent the life
of the great Sienese Pope, Alexander III., but are not arranged in
chronological order and the subjects are frequently doubtful. Among them
we may notice the Pope giving a blessed sword to the Doge of Venice,
Sebastiano Ziani, on the wall opposite the first window; on the entrance
wall, the capture of an Italian town by the imperialists and the naval
victory of the Venetians on Ascension Day, 1176, in which the Caesar's
son Otto was taken prisoner. The latter scene is a splendid rendering of
mediaeval naval warfare--note especially, on the right, the episode of
the capture of the prince and the frenzied efforts of the imperialists
to rescue him. The second fresco on the arch probably represents the
recognition of the Pope, when disguised as a monk at Venice, by a French
pilgrim. On the wall opposite the second window is the building of
Alessandria with its elevation into a Bishopric, and, apparently, the
humiliation of the Emperor Barbarossa. There is a curious representation
of the burning of a heretic on the arch. Opposite the entrance is the
presentation of the captured prince to the Pope, and the latter's
triumphal procession with the Emperor and the Doge leading his horse.
Beyond is the _Sala Monumentale_, painted in honour of Vittorio Emanuele
II. by modern Sienese artists with certain great scenes in the story of
the unification of Italy--the armistice after Novara, the battles of San
Martino and Palestro, the meeting of Vittorio Emanuele and Garibaldi,
the Roman Plebiscite and the funeral of the King. With the impartiality
that, in some respects, is characteristic of modern Italy, Alexander
III. is represented in one of the medallions among the precursors of the
political regeneration of his country.
In this _Sala di Balìa_--then called the Sala del Papa--there was a
notable tragedy enacted in 1455, in the very year that the "Magistracy
of the Fifteen of the Balìa" was first instituted--originally of fifteen
citizens to superintend the prosecution of the war against Piccinino.
The commander of the Sienese forces, Count Giberto da Correggio, was in
secret treaty with the enemy, sent him supplies while Siena starved, and
attempted to occupy Grosseto on his own account. The government was
warned by the officers of the Duke of Milan that their general was going
to betray them, but the Balìa had already ample proofs in its hands; not
daring to arrest him in the midst of his troops, they waited their time.
"What human cunning could devise no means to do," writes Malavolti,
somewhat sanctimoniously, "was easily ordained by the Divine Justice,
that seldom suffers such enormous crimes to remain unpunished." They
heard that, on September 6th, the Count would come to the city, to
demand payment of a large sum of money which he claimed from the
government. The morning that he was expected, the Fifteen met, reviewed
the evidence against him, and decided upon their measures. The Count
confidently entered the city with thirty horsemen, rode to the Palazzo
de' Marescotti (the present Palazzo Saracini), where he had apartments,
and demanded an audience of the Balìa. In the evening four nobles of the
city, with a number of citizens and the trumpeters of the Signoria, came
to bring him in state to the Palace for the audience that he had
demanded. The Count and his chancellor went up into the chapel, while
the doors of the Palace were closed and his other attendants detained in
the Sala delle Balestre. When all was ready, the Count was called before
the Fifteen in the Sala di Balìa--the Priors being meanwhile assembled
in the Sala di Concistoro. Perhaps he passed through that little door
upon which even then was the design of Fortune's wheel. With all marks
of honour and respect, he was invited to seat himself with the Fifteen,
by the side of the Prior of the Balìa, and questioned about what had
gone on in the field. He answered insolently and proudly--upon which he
was accused to his face of treason, and the intercepted letters shown
him that he had interchanged with Piccinino. He sprang to his feet:
"What! do you imagine that I am a prisoner in your hands?" "Quite
otherwise," answered Lodovico Petroni, one of the Fifteen, seizing hold
of his cloak. At the signal armed men rushed in--they had been lying in
wait in the room beyond--and stabbed him to death. The still quivering
body was dragged to the window and hurled out on to the pavement below.
Later on, it was carried to the Duomo and buried
[Illustration: The Market Place]
near the Campanile, without any honour or name to mark the spot. That
same night the Balìa notified to the Pope and their other allies what
had been done. To his Holiness they declared that "this astute seminator
of evil, this your insidious foe, this traitor to our Republic" had been
done to death by the people in a tumult; to the Duke of Milan they sent
a piece of his cloak, drenched in blood; to Venice and to Florence they
told the truth, pleading the sacred duty of saving the State, citing as
precedents the deaths of Carmagnola and Baldaccio d'Anghiari. Pope
Calixtus insisted that they should justify themselves by publishing the
evidence, and when this was done, on September 18th, he absolved the
Fifteen, each severally by name. But to the appeal of the Sienese envoys
for a general absolution for all the people of the city, he replied that
he could not grant it, "because you Sienese would be too strong in
Paradise."[75]
Two antique coffers in this room--one of them with the Lupa carved by
Antonio Barili--are also worthy of notice. In the Loggia on the second
floor of the Palace is a frescoed Madonna and Child by Ambrogio
Lorenzetti.
The second door to the left of the wolf in the Piazza leads, through a
picturesque little court covered with old frescoes, to a series of rooms
on the ground floor, at present used by the municipality. In the _Sala
dei Signori di Biccherna_, the room in which the Camarlingo and Quattro
Provveditori met, is the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin, a fresco
painted in 1445 by Sano di Pietro. Two of the Angels are holding a
scroll with a poem, thus blending painting and poetry together in the
characteristic early Sienese way: "This blessed glorious Virgin pure,
Daughter of her Son and Spouse and Mother--because the Eternal Father
found her more humble than any other person, He giveth her here the
crown of the Universe. Virgin Mother of the Eternal God, by whose holy
hands thou art crowned, to thee be recommended the devout and faithful
city of Siena, as it hopeth in thee; hail, full of grace." The San
Bernardino on the right is also by Sano. In the same room there is a
small fresco by Bazzi--the Madonna and Child with the little St John, St
Michael Archangel and St Galganus. Like all his work in the Palace it is
late, about 1537, but, unlike the rest, it is badly drawn and carelessly
executed.
In the _Stanza del Sindaco_ there is a much finer fresco of
Bazzi's--the Resurrection of Christ, with the three Maries approaching
through the early spring landscape. It was originally painted, probably
in 1535, in the place where the salt was sold, and was sawn out in the
last century. Vasari specially praises the beauty of the Angels' heads.
In another room is a frescoed Madonna by Vecchietta. On the ground floor
is also the entrance to what during the fifteenth century was the Sala
del Gran Consiglio, but which in the latter part of the sixteenth
century, after the final fall of the Republic, was converted into a
theatre.
At the back of the Palace is the picturesque market-place, the _Piazza
del Mercato_. Out of the market, the Via de' Malcontenti and the Via di
Porta Giustizia still indicate the ways by which condemned prisoners
were conveyed in carts to the place of execution beyond the walls. We
know that the feet of St Catherine frequently trode this mediaeval _via
crucis_; but it is questionable whether the execution of Niccolò di
Toldo took place in the ordinary spot, as there is frequent record of
political prisoners being done to death in front of the Palace and
elsewhere. In his fresco in San Domenico, Bazzi seems to identify the
place with the little valley before us, between the hills of Montone and
Santa Agata, crowned by the churches of the Servites and Augustinians.
CHAPTER VI
_The Duomo and the Baptistery_
Rising majestically above Siena, crowned with the mosaic of the
Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in Paradise, as though to make her seem
still floating in air over the city that had chosen her for Queen, is
the vast Duomo. Tradition has it that a temple of Minerva once stood
upon this hill, and that upon its ruins was built the first fane to
_Maria Assunta_, Our Lady of the Assumption.
Some such building had existed from the end of the tenth century; but
the present "tiger-striped cathedral," the most truly Gothic of all
ecclesiastical buildings in Tuscany, belongs for the most part to the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The hexagonal cupola was finished
in 1264, four years after Montaperti and the year before Dante's birth.
The Campanile, with its curious turrets at the angles, was built in the
following century. But the original building did not satisfy the Nine
and the turbulent, prosperous citizens that they ruled. While prolonging
the Duomo Vecchio, as it was called, to the east up to the present
Baptistery (in those very years, between 1317 and 1321, in which Dante
was at Ravenna, finishing his _Paradiso_), defects were discovered in
the architecture; and in February 1322 (1321 in the old Sienese style)
Lorenzo Maitani, with four other masters, proposed to the General
Council of the Campana that a new cathedral should be erected: "we
advise that, to the honour of God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His
Most Holy Mother--who ever was, is, and will be in time to come, the
Head of this city of Siena--there be begun and made a beauteous, great
and magnificent church, which shall be well-proportioned in length,
height, and breadth, and in all measures which pertain to a beauteous
church, and with all splendid ornaments which pertain to and befit so
great, so honourable and beauteous a church; to the end that our Lord
Jesus Christ and His most holy Mother, and His most high celestial
court, in that church may be blessed and glorified in hymns, and the
said Commune of Siena be ever protected by them from adversity and be
honoured perpetually."[76] It was decided that the old Duomo should be
preserved; but merely as the transept of this new _ecclesia pulchra,
magna et magnifica_; and in December 1339 the new nave was begun, the
architect Pietro di Lando, who was then working for King Robert of
Naples, being summoned back to Siena to superintend, as "a man of great
subtlety and invention." He was succeeded by Giovanni di Agostino; but
the pestilence of 1348, followed by the fall of the Nine in 1355, caused
the work to be abandoned. The Sienese turned back to their Duomo Vecchio
with renewed vigour, and, in the early years of the fifteenth century,
the great work was practically completed--before Brunelleschi had
crowned the rival Cathedral of Florence with his mighty dome.
Going up the Via di Monna Agnese, or climbing the steps from the
Baptistery, we pass under a richly-worked doorway, in the tympanum of
which the Redeemer is enthroned with Angels. This would have been a door
at the end of the right aisle. As it is, it leads us into a spacious
piazza, with the Duomo, as at
[Illustration: THE DUOMO]
present constructed, on our right. On the left is the huge unfinished
façade of the abandoned Duomo of Pietro di Lando and Giovanni di
Agostino, with what would have been the principal entrance from the Via
di Città. The tricuspidate façade of the present cathedral, in black,
white and red marble, covered with statuary, was mainly constructed in
the last two decades of the thirteenth century under the superintendence
of Giovanni di Niccolò Pisano; but all the chief sculptors of the
Sienese school have worked upon it, down to the latter part of the
fifteenth century. The majority of the statues that we now see are
modern copies of the originals, and almost the whole has been completely
restored. The mosaics in the _cuspidi_ are modern Venetian work, from
the designs of Mussini and Franchi. Upon the platform is represented in
_graffito_ the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee; similarly, at
the three doors, are three scenes from the administration of Holy
Orders. These were originally executed in the sixteenth century, but
have been restored and altered. Before entering the sacred building, the
tablet should be noticed, set into the wall of the Vescovado, the
Archbishop's palace on the left: "Hoc est sepulcrum magistri Ioannis
quondam magistri Nicolai et de eius eredibus." It is the tombstone of
Giovanni Pisano himself, who was buried in the cloister of the Canons,
between the Duomo and the Vescovado.
The peculiar beauty of the interior of the Duomo is due to the fact that
we have Gothic architecture, combined with decoration that is almost
entirely in the style and taste of the fifteenth century. Gothic
austerity is tempered here with the grace and fascination of the early
Renaissance. The terra-cotta busts of the Popes in the cornice along the
nave and choir belong to the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of
the sixteenth centuries. They make a strangely impressive series, these
crowned Vicars of Christ, who Himself is seen in the midst of them,
immediately under the eastern window. They stretch from Peter in a
continuous chronological line round the church, to Lucius III., who sat
on the Throne of the Fisherman from 1181 to 1185, succeeding to
Alexander III., when our Henry II. reigned in England. They are solemn
and dignified--the ideal Pontiffs of the closing chapter of Dante's _De
Monarchia_, "who in accordance with things revealed should lead the
human race to eternal life." But there is naturally no attempt or
thought of portraiture: some of Hildebrand's infamous predecessors are
conceived and represented in the same spirit as he who said: "I have
loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore, I die in exile." Below them
are similar busts of Roman Emperors, the supreme temporal rulers of the
world in Dante's dual scheme, "who in accordance with the teachings of
philosophy should direct the human race to temporal felicity."
The famous pavement of the Duomo--a thing unique of its kind--might well
have paved the first terrace of Dante's Mountain of Purgation. The
tradition that this work was originally designed by Duccio (from which
it would follow that Dante himself may have seen its first beginnings)
is now almost entirely rejected. Documentary evidence proves that it was
not begun until the year 1369, shortly after the resumption of work upon
the Duomo Vecchio. The greater part of it was laid down after Giovanni
da Spoleto[77] in 1396 had begun publicly to expound the _Divina
Commedia_ in the Studio of Siena, and we can readily imagine that the
men under whose superintendence it was done had in their minds those
superb _terzine_ in which the divine poet describes the figured scenes
over which his feet passed to meet that _creatura bella_, the Angel of
Humility, whose face was like the morning star.[78] With one solitary
exception--the rout of the Assyrians after the death of Holofernes--the
subjects shown here are not the same as those on Dante's _duro
pavimento_. Instead of the examples of the punishment of pride, we have
here a series of scenes which can hardly be said to be dominated by one
idea, but which in the main (a few scenes standing apart, unconnected
with the general scheme), through symbol, type and prophecy, lead up to
the Sacrifice of Isaac before the High Altar, as mystically representing
the Atonement of Calvary, renewed daily in the Sacrifice of the Mass. In
the earliest of these _commessi_ and _graffiti_, white and black marbles
alone are used; later, coloured marbles are employed as well, both in
shading and in the decorative portions. Executed at various dates, for
the most part in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they have been
frequently altered and restored, while in some instances modern copies
have been substituted for the originals. Save in the season of the feast
of the Assumption, the central portions are kept covered.
The pavement of the nave and aisles is a preparation, in some sort, for
the rest. In the nave is first Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus,
"Contemporaneus Moysi," with two disciples--symbolical of the mystical
wisdom of the Ancients, "when sages looked to Egypt for their lore." It
was executed in 1488 from the designs of Giovanni di Stefano. Next comes
Siena herself, represented by the _Lupa_ suckling the Twins, surrounded
with the heraldic beasts of the allied cities; this was originally
executed in 1373, and (unlike the rest of the pavement) in mosaic, but
the present piece is a modern copy. She is followed--in token of what
her chroniclers call her perpetual fidelity to the Caesarian
Monarchy--by a wheel with the Imperial Eagle in the centre, of the same
year. Then follow two allegories of human life, under the sway of
Fortune, "who hath the goods of the world so in her clutch." The first
is the so-called _Storia della Fortuna_, designed by Pinturicchio in
1505.[79] Fortune has landed ten of her subjects on the shore of a
solitary island mountain, the paths of which are stony, and where
reptiles lurk and crawl. Some run steadfastly on to seek wisdom; one
sinks down to rest by the way, wearied already of the quest; one gazes
longingly back, another shakes his fist at his mistress. "But she is
blessed and heareth not that," as Dante has it, as she spreads her sail
to catch the breeze, and steps off again into her storm-shattered bark
to fetch new votaries. Above all change and alien influence, in the
flowery garden that crowns the mountain like Dante's Earthly Paradise,
sits Wisdom enthroned, with palm and book; on her right Socrates
receives the palm, on her left Crates is casting jewels into the sea;
the obvious meaning being that wisdom can be reached only by pursuit of
knowledge and contempt of riches. The second, an allegory of ambition, a
modern copy of a work originally executed in 1372, shows a crowned king
enthroned on the summit of Fortune's wheel; clinging desperately to the
sides of the wheel are men struggling up to take his place or falling
from it, while in the corners the sages of antiquity moralise upon the
scene. On the pavement of the aisles are the ten Sibyls, inspired
prophetesses of the Incarnation and Redemption among the pagans and
gentiles. They were laid down in 1482 and 1483, under the rectorship of
Alberto Aringhieri, to whose care so much of the beautiful decoration of
the Duomo is due; but they have all been restored. In the right aisle we
see the Delphic Sibyl, designed and executed by Giuliano di Biagio and
Vito di Marco; the Cumaean Sibyl, ascribed to Luigi di Ruggiero and
Vito di Marco;[80] the Cuman Sibyl, with the golden bough and the famous
Virgilian prophecy, designed and executed by Giovanni di Stefano; the
Erythraean Sibyl, designed and executed, also signed, by Antonio
Federighi; the Persian Sibyl, which appears to be mainly the work of
Urbano da Cortona. In the left aisle are: the Libyan Sibyl, designed by
Guidoccio Cozzarelli; the Hellespontine Sibyl, designed by Neroccio di
Bartolommeo Landi;[81] the Phrygian Sibyl, probably, like her Cimmerian
sister, designed and executed by Luigi di Ruggiero and Vito di Marco;
the Samian Sibyl, designed by Matteo di Giovanni and with his signature;
the Albunean Sibyl, designed by Benvenuto di Giovanni.[82] These ten
figures are among the most characteristic products of Sienese art of the
Quattrocento.
On the pavement of the right transept we have the Seven Ages of Man, a
modern copy of what was designed and executed by Antonio Federighi in
1475; the story of Jephthah, by Bastiano di Francesco, between 1481 and
1485; the Death of Absalom, by Pietro del Minella, 1447; and the Emperor
Sigismund enthroned, designed by Domenico di Bartolo in 1434. This last
is peculiarly interesting as being totally different in character from
any other of the series, the work of a singularly striking and certainly
the most isolated painter of the Sienese school. We have in all that
Domenico does a touch of Florentine science and realism. In the left
transept are the Expulsion of Herod, with some spirited fighting in
superb Renaissance armour, designed by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1484 or
1485, with a beautiful frieze of winged lions by Bastiano di Francesco;
the Massacre of the Innocents, designed by Matteo di Giovanni in 1481,
with a frieze of children, bacchanals, centaurs and amazons, showing how
Matteo felt the spirit of the Renaissance more fully than any other
Sienese painter of his day; the story of Judith, said to have been
designed either by Urbano da Cortona or Matteo di Giovanni, and executed
by Federighi in 1473. These three scenes have been completely restored.
The raised platform in front of the choir shows some of the earliest of
these _graffiti_, laid down between 1423 and 1426, much damaged and
restored; David as the Psalmist and David slaying Goliath are by
Domenico di Niccolò del Coro, whose work we have seen in the chapel of
the Signoria; the story of Joshua and the victory of Samson are by Paolo
di Martino. In the sixteenth century the arrangement of the choir was
altered, the high altar being removed from under the cupola to its
present position. Beccafumi then set to work to design the _graffiti_
for the pavement in accordance with this new arrangement. His work,
roughly speaking, runs from 1518 to 1546. It comprises the story of
Elijah in the hexagonal space below the cupola; the story of Moses
between this and the platform; and, before the high altar itself, the
Sacrifice of Abraham, with Adam and Eve, Abel, Melchizedek and other
scenes from the Old Testament, inclosed by a frieze representing the
Children of Israel going to seek the Promised Land. In recent years the
Elijah series has been completed from designs by Alessandro Franchi. Mr
Cust remarks that Beccafumi, save in his earlier scenes, discards the
colours that Pinturicchio had used, and "confines himself almost
entirely to low tones of colour, which shade from one into the other;
and produces his effects by a species of _chiaroscuro_. Instead of
outlining each piece, or figure, in a single colour, he frequently uses,
on the same subject, white and two or three different shades of
pale-coloured grey marble."[83]
Just within the great doorway are the sepulchral stones of two of the
Sienese nobles who fell at Montaperti: Giovanni Ugurghieri and Andrea
Beccarini. The delicately worked Corinthian columns supporting the
tribune, the bas-reliefs (by Urbano da Cortona) round their pedestals
representing scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin, are of 1483.
The stained-glass window over the portal, representing the Last Supper,
was designed by Raphael's famous pupil, Perino del Vaga, and executed by
Pastorino Pastorini in 1549. The basins for Holy Water--perhaps the most
beautiful things of their kind in existence--are by Antonio Federighi;
the pedestal of the one on the right is supposed to be a real antique
from an altar dedicated to Neptune. Near the side-doors are statues of
two of Siena's seven popes; Paul V. (Camillo Borghesi), who pontificated
from 1605 to 1621, noted for his quarrel with Venice and for his
extravagant ultramontanism; Marcellus II. (Marcello Cervini), a saintly
man who held the papacy for a few weeks in 1555, and to whose memory
Palestrina dedicated his famous Mass.
At the end of the right aisle, over the door of the Campanile, is the
tomb of Tommaso Piccolomini, Bishop of Pienza, who died in 1483, by
Neroccio; below it, three on each side, are bas-reliefs by Urbano da
Cortona, representing scenes from the lives of the Madonna and her
parents; that of Joachim among the shepherds is full of pastoral charm.
The _Cappella del Voto_, in the right transept, glowing with lapislazuli
and gold, was built in 1661 by Cardinal Fabio Chigi, to enshrine the
miraculous Madonna--the _Madonna delle Grazie_--to which the Sienese had
paid their vows in the days of Montaperti, and which is still credited
with wonderful powers. The superbly modelled Magdalene and Jerome, by
Bernini, the great Roman sculptor of the seventeenth century, are
strongly characteristic of that master's exaggerated and emotional, but
undeniably powerful style. Further on in the transept, Siena's first and
latest pope face each other; Alexander III., the Orlando Bandinelli, so
frequently mentioned, and Alexander VII., the above-named Fabio Chigi,
who reigned from 1665 to 1667, a good, easy man, who loved letters, and
of whom the Venetian envoy wrote that "he had merely the name of a pope,
not the substantial power of the papacy." In the Chapel of the Blessed
Sacrament, let into the wall, are reliefs of St Paul and the four
Evangelists, by Giovanni da Imola and Giovanni di Turino.
Opposite the _Cappella del Voto_ is the Chapel of the Baptist in the
left transept. It contains, in a richly worked reliquary, what is
supposed to be one of the arms of the Baptist himself, which Pius II.
presented to Siena in 1464. The chapel was built by Giovanni di Stefano,
the external marble decorations being by Lorenzo di Mariano. Of the two
pedestals that support the marble columns at the entrance, the one on
the right is a genuine antique, which Antonio Federighi bought in
exchange for a pair of oxen, and the one on the left is his own
imitation of it.[84] Within, the presiding genius of the place is
Donatello's St John in bronze, one of the master's latest works, full of
dramatic expression and the same spirit of austere prophecy that we
found in the Magdalene of the Florentine Baptistery. The marble statues
of St Ansanus and St Catherine of Alexandria are by Giovanni di Stefano
and Neroccio respectively; the latter, assigned to the sculptor in 1487,
was left unfinished at his death. The bas-reliefs of the
Font--representing scenes from Genesis, and two of the labours of
Hercules--are fine and characteristic works of the school of Giacomo
della Quercia, and should perhaps be ascribed to Antonio Federighi. The
eight frescoes were originally executed by Pinturicchio and his pupils,
between 1501 and 1504, for Alberto Aringhieri. On the left and right of
the entrance, by Pinturicchio himself, we see Alberto in youth and age;
first as a young knight keeping vigil, then advanced in years, kneeling
in prayer, in the dress of a knight of Rhodes; they are full of charm,
especially the first, in its harmonies of grey and red, the highest
expression of Sienese chivalry:--
"Unfathomable thoughts with him remain
Of that great bond he may no more eschew,
Nor can he say, 'I'll hide me from this chain.'"[85]
The fresco opposite, representing the Birth of the Precursor, is also
from Pinturicchio's hand. Appropriately placed above the two portraits
of Alberto are the Vigil of St John and his Preaching in the Wilderness;
they are very naive and charming, with odd formal trees and landscape
against the gold background, and are ascribed by Mr Berenson to
Baldassare Peruzzi, of whom there is documentary evidence that he worked
here in 1501; they would thus be very early works of his, of the same
period as they are in the same style as the little Madonna in the
Accademia. These four frescoes have been repainted. The three that
remain have been entirely replaced by later work; the Baptism of Christ
and the Martyrdom of the Baptist, painted by Francesco Rustici at the
beginning of the seventeenth century, the Saint in Prison, by a modern
artist, Cesare Maccari.
High up to the left of this chapel is the tomb of Cardinal Riccardo
Petroni, a famous decretalist but a man of great charity (in spite of
Dante the two things are not quite incompatible) in the days of Boniface
VIII. It is probably by either Tino di Camaino or Gano, and is a good
example of these sepulchral monuments of the early Sienese school,
though here, as the monument is to a churchman, the religious ideal
prevails over the usually more secular style. In the left transept are
statues of the two Piccolomini Popes, Pius II. and Pius III., of whom
more presently. As far back as the middle of the sixteenth century, it
was supposed that the highly-revered wooden Crucifix, near the statue of
Pius III., was the one carried by the Sienese at Montaperti. The chapel
of St Ansanus, opposite that of the Blessed Sacrament, has an
altar-piece by Francesco Vanni, painted in 1596, representing the Saint
baptising the people of Siena, which is a decidedly favourable specimen
of the later Sienese school. The bronze relief on the pavement, the tomb
of a Bishop Giovanni Pecci, who died in 1426, is a signed work of
Donatello. The bas-reliefs let into the wall--representing the
Annunciation, the Nativity, the Procession and Adoration of the
Magi--date from the first half of the thirteenth century; they are
specially interesting here as, when compared with the great pulpit, they
illustrate the state of sculpture in Tuscany before the advent of
Niccolò Pisano, and enable us to realise what Niccolò effected.
The famous pulpit, by Niccolò and his pupils, was
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE DUOMO]
begun in 1266, the year after Dante's birth. It marks an epoch in the
history of Italian sculpture--even more so than did that earlier one in
the Baptistery of Pisa, when, in Carducci's splendid phrase, the
sculptor saw "the new and holy Venus of Italy" rise "from the Greek
sepulchre of German bones."[86] The sculptures of the pulpit at Pisa are
imitated from Roman bas-reliefs and differ little from the work of
Niccolò's predecessors and contemporaries, save in their superior
technical excellence; but here at Siena we recognise the working of a
new spirit; side by side with this close study of antiquity, we have a
direct return to natural models.[87] The pulpit is octagonal, supported
by eight pillars at the angles, each second pillar resting upon a lion
rending his prey, or a lioness giving suck to her young; a central
pillar, resting on the pedestal, being adorned with eight figures
representing arts and crafts. The capitals are beautifully worked with
birds and foliage, and above them are figures of the Virtues, while
above these again are symbolical figures between and uniting the scenes
in the bas-reliefs. First comes a Sibyl, as announcing the great mystery
among the Gentiles. Then we have the Visitation, Birth of the Baptist,
Nativity of Christ, and Adoration of the Shepherds--with Niccolò's
favourite troop of goats, one of them leaping up to look at the Madonna,
just as you may see one doing when a herd is driven over the bridge of
Spoleto past the shrine. Next is a group of Prophets, followed by the
Adoration of the Magi, a scene which contains some obvious and
successful attempts at portraiture. At the next angle are the Madonna
and Child, a very beautiful work which may rank as the first Italian
masterpiece in this kind. After this the Presentation in the Temple,
Joseph's Dream, the Flight into Egypt are united in one history. A group
of Angels is next, followed by the Massacre of the Innocents, full of
movement and dramatic vigour. Then comes a symbolical representation of
Christ as the Redeemer of the World; He is trampling upon two monsters,
while a lion crouches at His feet (possibly a reference to Psalm xci.
13); above His head are the Dove, the empty Throne, the hand of the
Father. The Crucifixion follows, and, after it, supporting the
reading-desk, the symbols of the four Evangelists. Finally comes the
Last Judgment in two divisions, Christ as Judge appearing in the midst,
surrounded with Angels bearing the emblems and instruments of the
Passion. It is the conventional mediaeval representation; the saved to
the right of the Judge, with, highest of all, the Madonna in
intercession; the lost to the left, with a hideous bestial Satan down in
the lowest corner; the dead rising to judgment, the Angels severing the
wicked from among the just. We find for the first time that dramatic
motive which became traditional--the casting out of the hypocritical
monk who had tried to insinuate himself among the just. Though the forms
are still stunted, we find unmistakable signs of a new spirit of
portraiture, and many of the heads are most admirable, though here and
there facial expression degenerates into grimace. At the end of all are
three Angels blowing the trumpets, as though to announce the
accomplishment of the great mystery of Redemption that the Sibyl had
foretold.
The steps and entrance to the pulpit were added in the latter part of
the Cinquecento, designed by Bartolommeo Neroni. Against the two last
pillars of the nave are the poles of the Carroccio of the Sienese at
Montaperti. Beneath the cupola are gilded statues of Siena's patrons
with indifferent late fifteenth century frescoes. Until Baldassare
Peruzzi altered the arrangement, the high altar stood here, under the
cupola, with Duccio's great picture--which is now in the Opera del
Duomo--upon it. Thence six bronze Angels, by Francesco di Giorgio and
Giovanni di Stefano, marshal us to the new high altar--designed by
Peruzzi--upon which rests the famous bronze tabernacle, executed between
1465 and 1472, by Vecchietta. The two Angels against the pillars on
either side of the altar are by Beccafumi, who practised casting in
bronze in the latter part of his life. The frescoes in the niche behind
the choir were originally by Beccafumi, painted in 1544, but have been
completely repainted and altered; the Assumption is an unimportant
Bolognese work. The other frescoes, representing the fall of Manna and
the story of Esther, as also the two groups of Saints and Beati of Siena
at the sides, were painted by Ventura Salimbeni, between 1608 and 1611.
The choir stalls are partly the work of Fra Raffaello da Brescia in
1520, partly from the designs of Bartolommeo Neroni half a century
later. The intarsia is the work of Fra Giovanni da Verona of 1503, the
organ-loft over the sacristy was executed by the two Barili in 1511.
There are several old Sienese paintings in the chapter-house beyond the
sacristy, especially two of San Bernardino preaching in the Campo and in
front of San Francesco. Above the choir there is a fine circular
stained-glass window, representing the Death, Assumption, and Coronation
of the Blessed Virgin, with the four Evangelists and four chief early
patrons of Siena; it was executed by Giacomo di Castello in 1369,
according to a document recently discovered in the Archivio dell'Opera
del Duomo.[88]
The left aisle is mainly devoted to the honour and glory of the House of
the Piccolomini. Enea Silvio Piccolomini held the bishopric from 1449 to
1458. After his elevation to the papacy he raised the See to an
archbishopric, and until 1597 it was always in the hands of one of his
own family. We have, in fact, a continuous series of Piccolomini
Archbishops of Siena; Antonio Piccolomini, 1458 to 1459; Francesco di
Nanni Todeschini, 1460 to 1501 (when he resigned), afterwards Pius III.;
the two nephews of Pius III., Giovanni di Andrea Todeschini Piccolomini,
1501 to 1529, and Francesco di Salustio Bandini, 1529 to 1588; Ascanio
di Enea Piccolomini, 1588 to 1597. After the third altar (from the
entrance), over which is an Epiphany by Pietro Sorri which is almost
Venetian in colour, is the monument of Alessandro Piccolomini,
Archbishop of Patras and afterwards coadjutor to Archbishop Bandini;
philosopher, poet, and dramatist, Alessandro is, unfortunately for his
moral reputation, best known by his early _Dialogo della Bella Creanza
delle Donne_, which in later life he retracted. The next altar, that of
the Piccolomini, was ordered by the Cardinal Francesco di Nanni
Todeschini, who, never contemplating the possibility of being destined
to sit in the papal chair, and therefore to rest in the Eternal City,
intended to be buried here, as the inscription on the steps states:
"Francesco, Cardinal of Siena, whilst still living had this sepulchre
made for himself"; and over the arch, as his sole title to fame, he has
"Francesco Piccolomini, Cardinal of Siena, nephew of the Supreme Pontiff
Pius II." He was a good and learned man, who, as we have seen, played a
pacific and moderating part in the turbulent politics of his native
city; he was prematurely aged and utterly broken down in health when, on
the death of the infamous Alexander VI., he was elected Pope in
September 1503 (much to his own dismay) by a sort of compromise between
the rival factions in the conclave, none of whom could secure the
elevation of its own candidate, but all hoping that there was no
prospect of him surviving the election very long. "God be thanked,"
wrote the General of the Camaldolese, "that the government of the Church
has been intrusted to such a man, who is so manifestly a storehouse of
all virtues, and the abode of the Holy Spirit of God. Under his care the
Lord's vineyard will no more bring forth thorns and thistles, but will
stretch out its fruitful branches to the ends of the earth."[89] He took
the name of Pius III., in memory of his uncle, and declared his
intention of reforming the Church, beginning with the Pope and the
Cardinals, and of restoring peace to Christendom. But the weight of the
great mantle of popedom crushed him, and he died in the following month,
"not deceiving," writes Guicciardini cynically, "the hopes that had been
formed at his election." The altar is in the main the work of Andrea
Fusina of Milan, and was begun in 1485. In 1501 Michelangelo undertook
to make fifteen statues for the Cardinal, _sua manu et opere_. On the
death of the Pope in 1503, he consigned four of these fifteen to his
heirs--his brothers Giacomo and Andrea Todeschini Piccolomini--to the
mutual satisfaction of both parties, and undertook to finish the eleven
that remained to do within two years, unless prevented by accident or
illness, or by the war concerning Pisa hindering the transport of marble
from the mountains of Carrara to Florence. These four statues are
apparently the four Saints in the niches on the outer framework of the
altar, fine figures somewhat in the style of Donatello's saints outside
Or San Michele. Of the remaining eleven, the only one that Michelangelo
ever executed is that placed on the top to the left--which is more in
his later style. He was somewhat troubled in his mind on the subject in
his old age. "Lionardo," he wrote to his nephew, on September 20th,
1561, "I should like you to search among the papers of your father
Lodovico, for the copy of a contract _in forma camerae_ made concerning
certain figures that I promised to continue for Pope Pius II. [_sic_]
after his death; and because the said work, owing to certain
differences, remained suspended about fifty years ago, and because I am
old, I should like to settle the matter, in order that you may not be
troubled about it unjustly after I am gone." In another letter from
Rome, on the last day of November, he tells him that the Archbishop of
Siena has volunteered to put the thing right for him, "and because he is
an excellent and skilful man, I believe that it will end
satisfactorily."[90] To the right of the altar is a Risen Christ, with
two adoring Angels, over the monument to the Bandini raised by this
Archbishop, Francesco Bandini Piccolomini; these figures are also, with
some plausibility, ascribed to Michelangelo.
The great work in Siena of Pius III. is the famous _Libreria_, which he
built as Cardinal for the books and MSS. that his uncle had left him.
Probably realising that he had little time left him to live, he wished
to erect this monument to his uncle's memory, and indirectly to his own.
Above the entrance at the end of the aisle is a fresco of his own
elevation to the papacy, painted after his death and after the
subsequent completion of the work, by Bernardino Pinturicchio. The
Pope's own figure is partly in relief; on either side of him are the
Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, who has taken off his mitre, and the
Cardinal Giovanni Antonio di San Giorgio, who is placing the papal tiara
upon his head. The whole lacks composition, and there is little, if any,
attempt at portraiture; but the crowd in the piazza includes some
beautiful figures and well rendered motives. A youth in the foreground
is evidently Raphael. Under the fresco are Francesco's arms as Cardinal
and as Pope. The marble work is by Lorenzo di Mariano, the admirable
bronze doors were executed by Antonio Ormanni.[91]
On entering we are at once struck by the dazzling profusion of gold and
colour, the splendid and opulent decorative effect of the whole. In the
contract between "the most reverend Lord Cardinal of Siena" and "Messer
Bernardino called Il Pinturicchio, painter of Perugia," dated June 29th,
1502, "to paint a Library placed in the Duomo of Siena," almost as much
stress is laid upon the "gold, azure, ultramarine, enamel-blue,
azure-greens and other pleasing colours" as upon the ten histories in
which he has to paint "the life of the Holy Memory of Pope Pius."[92]
Francesco was probably led to intrust the work to Pinturicchio, rather
than to a Sienese, because of the splendid work that he had just
completed in the Vatican for the reigning Pontiff (who was hardly
destined to leave a _santa memoria_), Alexander VI. The frescoes were
begun in 1503, interrupted by the death of Francesco as Pius III. (he
probably saw none of them), and resumed about the beginning of 1506.
The ten histories on the wall make up an ideal representation of the
career of a hero of the Renaissance. We see Enea Silvio in the first
scene, a youth riding a white horse, starting for Basle to seek his
fortunes in the great world away from the petty turmoils of his little
Italian republic, as secretary to the Cardinal Domenico Capranica, the
dignified ecclesiastic who heads the _cortège_ mounted upon a mule. In
the background is the western side of the bay of Genoa, from which they
made the journey by land to Basle. In the second, riper in years and in
worldly wisdom (but less successfully realised by the painter) he is at
Edinburgh before King James I. of Scotland, to whom he had been sent by
his new employer, the powerful and influential Cardinal of Santa Croce,
Niccolò d'Albergata, to persuade him to threaten the Border and so
prevent our Henry VI. from interfering with the continental peace that
had been concluded at Arras. This was in 1435. In the third, Enea Silvio
has mounted a step higher in the social scale, being crowned poet
laureate by the Emperor-elect, Frederick III., who made him one of his
imperial secretaries in 1442. Hitherto there had been an antipapal
tendency in the poet's movements; he had been involved in the more or
less schismatical Council, had been friendly with and on the point of
entering the service of the Savoyard antipope Felix. But Frederick
professed neutrality, and the next fresco, the fourth, shows us his
astute secretary's conversion to the papal side. We see him in Rome, in
1445, at the feet of Eugenius IV., to whom he had been sent as envoy by
the Emperor or, as it would be more accurate to call him at this epoch,
the King of the Romans. The two Cardinals in the foreground are said to
be his two friends in the Sacred College, the Cardinal of Amiens and the
Cardinal of Como, while the bearded prelate, the third on our left, is
the famous platonist, Johannes Bessarion of Trebizond. This marks a
turning point in Piccolomini's career; he turned away from his pagan,
licentious life to the study of theology, definitely entered the
Church, and set before his eyes two great objects: the unity of Roman
Catholicism, the rolling back of the tide of Turkish invasion.[93] There
can be little question that hope of advancement was his chief motive in
this conversion, but his after life as an ecclesiastic seems to show
that the nobler spiritual impulse was not altogether lacking. "To him,"
writes Dean Kitchin, "more than to any man is due the successful healing
of the schism of the West." In the next, the fifth fresco, which after
the first is the most beautiful of the series, he is Bishop of Siena,
presiding at the meeting of the Emperor and his bride Leonora of
Portugal outside the Porta Camollia, on February 24th, 1452. Behind the
Emperor stand Duke Albert of Austria and the young King Ladislaus of
Hungary and Bohemia. We read that the Emperor showed considerable
nervousness as he waited for his bride, whom he had never seen before.
"At first," writes Enea Silvio himself in his History of Frederick, "the
Caesar turned pale, when he saw his bride coming in the distance. But
when she drew near, and he beheld more and more her beautiful face and
her royal bearing, he became himself again and his colour returned, and
he waxed merry, for he found his lovely bride was even more lovely than
report had made her, and he perceived that he had not been deceived by
words, as often happens to princes who contract marriages by
procurators."[94] The fall of Constantinople in 1453 gave Bishop Enea
the opportunity of coming forward as the champion of the cause of
Christendom against the Moslem, the eloquent advocate of a new crusade.
In the sixth history, he receives the Cardinal's hat from Calixtus III.
in 1456; two Greek prelates stand conspicuously in the foreground, while
Bessarion appears again on our right; though not very like his
authentic portrait by Pinturicchio in the Vatican, the Cardinal standing
at the Pope's right hand is probably intended for his abominable nephew
Roderigo Borgia, afterwards Alexander VI., with whom Enea at this time
was on friendly terms. Then, in the seventh, the hero has reached the
goal of his earthly ambition, and becomes Pope Pius II. on September
3rd, 1458. He is being carried in procession to give his benediction to
the City and the World, while the Master of the Ceremonies burns a piece
of tow before him, with the traditional warning: _Sancte Pater, sic
transit gloria mundi_. Two Orientals are there to represent the Eastern
Question, that the new Pontiff had made his own. The eighth fresco
represents the opening of Congress of Mantua, in 1459, where Pius in
vain strove to rouse the powers of Christendom to concerted action; as
the fresco appropriately lets us perceive, the Pope himself and the
suppliant Christians of the East are the only people in earnest in the
matter. Then, in the ninth, he gratifies alike his national pride for
the glory of Siena and his own heart by the canonisation of St
Catherine, whose crusading zeal had anticipated his own. There is an
interesting group of portraits below on our left, the two most
conspicuous figures being Raphael and Pinturicchio himself, holding
lighted tapers, while the two beyond Pinturicchio, with their backs
turned to us, are probably his assistants, Eusebio di San Giorgio and
Bembo Romano. Last of all, in the tenth fresco, Pius is at Ancona, come
to head the crusade. He was dying, kept alive only by his indomitable
enthusiasm, when he reached the city in July 1464, only to find that
there were none to support him. In August the fleet of Venice appeared
upon the scene. The Pope was then on his death-bed; but the painter,
departing from historical fact, has represented him carried down to the
harbour to meet the Doge, Cristofero Moro, who is shown kneeling
[Illustration: _The Canonisation of St. Catherine._
_from Pinturicchio's Fresco._]
before him, but who in reality never landed until the Pope had passed
away. So faded a heroic dream. "It has pleased God," wrote the Senator
of Rome, Guido di Carlo Piccolomini, to the Signoria of Siena, on August
15th, "this night, at the third hour, to call to Himself the blessed
soul of the happy memory of Pope Pius. It is a little consolation to us
in so great a loss that, being mortal like other men, he has died the
most glorious Pontiff that for a very long time has sat in that
seat."[95]
In spite of the express stipulation in the contract that Pinturicchio
"shall be bound to make all the designs of the histories with his own
hand, in cartoons and on the walls, and to paint all the heads of the
figures in fresco with his own hand," Vasari declares that the designs
and cartoons for all the scenes were drawn by Raphael, then a youth.
This view, though once scouted by serious historians of Italian art, is
winning ground again in a modified form--at least so far as the first
and fifth, the journey to Basle, and the meeting of the Caesar with
Leonora, are concerned, for both of which there exist what seem to be
authentic drawings from Raphael's hand at Florence and Perugia
respectively.[96] The mythological and allegorical devices on the
ceiling, the arabesques and grotesques in the pilasters between the
histories with the six times repeated twin cherubs supporting the arms
of the Piccolomini, are by Matteo Balducci and other pupils and
assistants of Pinturicchio. The famous marble group of the Three Graces,
one of the first antiques to be worshipped in the days of the
Renaissance, was brought hither by the Cardinal Francesco; from it
Raphael made his first studies of ancient sculpture. Here, too, are
several superb choir books, with miniatures by Sano di Pietro, Girolamo
da Cremona, Liberale da Verona, and others. The sculptured woodwork is
by Antonio Barili. The Adam and Eve over the door is a meritorious
production of the school of Giacomo della Quercia.
Over the door of the right transept, outside the Cathedral, is a very
beautiful sculptured medallion of the Madonna and Child with Angels. It
is ascribed by M. Reymond to Donatello.
In what would have been a part of the right aisle of the larger Duomo,
is the _Opera del Duomo_, the Cathedral Museum. On the ground floor is a
room containing some of the original _graffiti_ from the pavement, where
these have been replaced by copies, and some of the statues from the
façade. Here, too, in a mutilated condition, are Giacomo della Quercia's
reliefs from the Fonte Gaia: the Madonna and Child; the Virtues; the
Creation of Adam and the Expulsion from Paradise (masterpieces which
even in their ruin are superb), and less important fragments. There is a
striking Moses, from a fountain in the Ghetto, probably by Federighi but
scarcely unworthy of Giacomo himself. Also by Federighi are the
bas-reliefs from the chapel in the Campo. A St John in terra-cotta by
Giacomo Cozzarelli and a Transfiguration by Girolamo Genga of 1510 are
also worthy of note. On the first floor, beyond the hall where designs
and models are exhibited connected with the restoration of the pavement,
is a small room containing original designs. Two, at least, are of first
importance; the design for the façade of the Baptistery of Siena, by
Giacomo di Mino del Pellicciaio (20); an old drawing said to represent
Giotto's original design for the Campanile of Florence (34), crowned
with the steeple that according to Vasari was abandoned "because it was
a German thing and of antiquated fashion." There are also plans
connected with the building of the Duomo (_e.g._ 60), and a curious
sketch (33) for the suggested portico to the Campo, said to have been
invented for Pandolfo Petrucci by Peruzzi and designed by a certain
Pomarelli. On the stairs are the Baptism of Christ, by Andrea del
Brescianino and his brother Raffaello, formerly in San Giovanni, and a
modern plan of the abandoned enlargement of the Duomo.
In the gallery of the second floor is what may, perhaps, be taken as the
supreme picture of the Middle Ages; the famous _ancona_ which Duccio di
Buoninsegna painted for the high altar of the Duomo. "It was the most
beautiful picture that was ever seen or made," wrote the contemporary
chronicler, Andrea Dei. "It cost more than three thousand golden
florins, and Duccio the painter laboured many years in doing it."
Documentary evidence shows that he took less than three years over the
work; it was assigned to him on October 9th, 1308, and it was borne in
triumph to its place on June 9th, 1311. To place it accurately in the
story of mediaeval art, we may remember that Giotto had already painted
his earlier works and was probably then engaged upon his frescoes in the
Arena at Padua, while it was precisely in these years that Dante was
labouring upon his _Inferno_ and hailing with fierce exultation the
advent of a political Messiah in the person of Henry of Luxemburg. A
public holiday was proclaimed when it was completed. With ringing of
bells from churches and palaces, the musicians of the Signoria marching
in front with trumpets, drums and tambourines, the picture was solemnly
carried in triumph from the painter's workshop through the Via di
Stalloreggi, along the Via di Città, then down and round the Campo, and
up again to its place in the Duomo. "On the day that it was carried to
the Duomo," writes an anonymous chronicler who was probably present,
"the shops were shut; and the Bishop bade that a goodly and devout
company of priests and friars should go in solemn procession,
accompanied by the _Signori Nove_ and all the officers of the Commune
and all the people; all the most worthy followed close upon the picture,
according to their degree, with lights burning in their hands; and then
behind them came the women and children, with great devotion. And they
accompanied the said picture as far as the Duomo, making procession
round the Campo as is the use, all the bells sounding joyously for the
devotion of so noble a picture as is this. And all that day they offered
up prayers, with great alms to the poor, praying God and His Mother who
is our advocate, that He may defend us in His infinite mercy from all
adversity and all evil, and that He may keep us from the hands of
traitors and enemies of Siena."[97]
In those days, as already remarked, the high altar stood under the
cupola, and the picture was painted on both sides. They have been
separated and otherwise mutilated; several smaller scenes have
disappeared, and the whole has suffered from neglect and from
restoration; but still, rich with gold and the bright colours that the
sumptuous Sienese loved, it remains a supreme manifestation of the soul
of mediaeval faith. In the great central panel is the vision of the
immaculate Virgin Mother--Queen of Heaven and Earth--with her Divine
Babe, "a beauty that was joy in the eyes of all the other saints," as
Dante has it; while Angels, "each distinct in splendour and in art,"
their brows decked with such jewels as the seer of Patmos saw in the New
Jerusalem of his revelation, cluster round her throne, bearing the
mystical wands that end in the symbol of the Blessed Trinity. The Prince
of the Apostles, the two Johns, the virgin martyrs Agnes and Catherine,
stand in contemplation, while at their
[Illustration: _The Crucifixion._
_by Duccio di Buoninsegna._]
Queen's feet kneel Siena's sainted patrons: Crescentius and Victor,
Savinus and Ansanus. And their prayer is the painter's own, that he has
inscribed upon the base of the throne: "Holy Mother of God, be Thou the
cause of rest to Siena, be life to Duccio because he has painted Thee
thus." The original back of this panel represents the Passion of Christ
in twenty-six scenes, from the entry into Jerusalem to the _Noli me
tangere_ and the appearing to the two on the way to Emmaus. There are,
further, eighteen separate scenes of different shapes and sizes,
originally forming part of the whole (including the _gradino_, back and
front), of different episodes from the lives of Christ and the Madonna.
No more perfect illustration of these sacred histories, from the point
of view of mediaeval tradition, has ever been painted. Duccio
anticipates Raphael, in that side of his achievement in which the great
master of Urbino, by the illustration that (with his followers) he
supplied to religious history and legend, "has given an Hellenic garb to
the Hebraic universe."[98] But he is almost untouched by the new spirit
that was manifesting itself in Giotto's panels and frescoes. "Duccio,"
says Mr Berenson, "properly regarded, is the last of the great artists
of antiquity, in contrast to Giotto, who was the first of the
moderns."[99]
There are also in this gallery: St Paul enthroned, his conversion and
martyrdom being seen in the background, by Beccafumi; St Jerome, by
Giovanni di Paolo; the legend of the Finding of the Cross by St Helena
and its recovery from the Persians by Heraclius, by Pietro Lorenzetti;
four Saints (69, 70, 72, 73) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti; a predella by
Matteo di Giovanni; the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (63), an
admirable picture by Pietro Lorenzetti, signed and dated 1342; a Madonna
and Child with Saints (64), by Matteo di Giovanni; St Antony of Padua
(14), by Matteo Balducci; the apparition of St Francis to St Antony
(62), by Giovanni di Paolo; nine scenes illustrating the _Credo_, by
Taddeo di Bartolo; a quaint _Madonna lactante_, with Angel Musicians
(59), by Gregorio da Siena, of 1323. Here also is preserved the
episcopal ring of Pius II. In the further portion of the hall are
embroidered vestments and other articles of church furniture. A door at
the end admits you into the unfinished façade. A series of narrow
winding stairs leads up to the very top of it, with a superb view of
Siena and the country round.
[Illustration: STEPS BESIDE THE BAPTISTERY]
Under the Duomo to the east is the Baptistery, San Giovanni di Siena, a
construction of the same epoch as the Cathedral itself. The façade was
begun in 1317, modified in 1382 from the design of Giacomo di Mino del
Pellicciaio, but left unfinished. On the pavement in front of the three
doors are three scenes in _graffito_ representing the birth of a child,
the sacrament of Baptism, the administration of Confirmation; they were
laid down in the middle of the fifteenth century, the one in the centre
(the Baptism) being designed and executed by Antonio Federighi. The
interior has been completely restored. The Baptismal Font, which
includes a tabernacle for preserving the holy oils, is one of the
earliest masterpieces of the sculptural art of the Quattrocento,
showing, in its architectural details, the transition from the Gothic to
the style of the early Renaissance. The design of the whole is due to
Giacomo della Quercia, the marble work being executed by his pupils. On
the six sides of the font are six bronze bas-reliefs, representing
scenes in the life of the Baptist, separated by six niches enshrining
bronze figures of the Virtues. In 1417 the _Operaio_ of the Duomo
assigned two of these six bas-reliefs to Giacomo della Quercia, two to
Turino di Sano and his son Giovanni, two to the great Florentine Lorenzo
Ghiberti--the fame of whose nearly completed bronze door (the first of
the two that he cast) was then ringing through Tuscany. Giacomo della
Quercia showing himself tardy and preoccupied as usual with other
commissions, one of his two histories was assigned to Donatello instead,
in 1421. By 1427 the series was complete, and the Signoria forced
Giacomo to return from Bologna, at the instance of the authorities of
the Duomo, in the following year to bring the whole work to an end,
which was done by 1434.[100] The histories begin opposite the altar. The
Apparition of the Angel to Zaccharias in the Temple is by Giacomo della
Quercia, a fine example of the simplicity of means with which the great
sculptor of Siena obtains his effects, with no unnecessary figures,
disregarding all but what is essential. The Justice and Prudence on
either side of it, as also the Birth of the Precursor and the Preaching
in the Wilderness, are by the two Turini--the bas-reliefs being
excellent works, fully worthy of their place in the series. The
Fortitude between them is four years later, having been cast in 1431 by
Goro di Neroccio. The following statue, Charity, is by Turino. The
Baptism of Christ and John before Herod are both by Lorenzo Ghiberti,
finished in 1427. These two admirable reliefs, as M. Reymond observes,
represent the transition from the style of Ghiberti's first bronze door
in Florence to that of his second, the disposition of the figures and
the absence of perspective in the scene before Herod resembling the
style of the first door, while the group of Angels attending upon the
Saviour in the Baptism heralds the triumph of that second door which
Michelangelo was to declare worthy to be the portal of Paradise. The
beautiful, expressive figures of Faith and Hope are Donatello's. By
Donatello, too, is Herod's Feast, a masterpiece full of energy and
dramatic expression. Although both Ghiberti and Donatello dispose their
figures on different planes so as to give the bas-relief the appearance
of a picture in bronze, their methods show one notable point of
contrast; Ghiberti gains depth by detaching his front figures almost in
full relief, while Donatello produces a similar effect more by effacing
those in the distance.[101] The four charming little _putti_ in bronze
upon the tabernacle, "certi fanciullini ignudi," as the record of
payment styles them, are also by Donatello. The five marble figures in
the niches of the tabernacle are by Pietro del Minella, the bronze
Madonna and Child by Giovanni di Turino. The statue of the Baptist
surmounting the whole was probably designed by Giacomo and executed by
Pietro del Minella.
The frescoes of the Baptistery for the most part belong to the middle
of the fifteenth century. The three miracles of St Antony of Padua under
the arch to the left of the chief altar, the Articles of the Creed in
the vaulting, are by Vecchietta who began to paint here in 1450, and was
assisted in 1453 by his young pupil, Benvenuto di Giovanni. The
paintings behind the chief altar, representing the Annunciation, the
Passion, the Assumption, appear to be by a certain Michele Lambertini of
Bologna, a few years earlier. The Christ in the house of Simon, under
the arch to the right, was painted in 1489 by Pietro di Francesco degli
Oriuoli, a Sienese artist of much reputation in his day, who died in
1496.[102]
CHAPTER VII
_In the Footsteps of St Catherine_
"In the name of God, Amen. To the honour and praise and reverence of
God, and of His Mother, Madonna Holy Mary Virgin, and of all the Saints
of God, and to the honour and exaltation of the Holy Roman Church, and
of the Commune and of the People of the City of Siena, and to the good
and pacific state and to the increase of the Spedale of Madonna Holy
Mary Virgin of Siena, which is placed in front of the chief church of
the said City, and of the Rector and Brothers of the Chapter of the said
Spedale, and to the recreation of the sick and poor and foundlings of
the said Spedale."
Thus open the Statutes of 1305 of the famous Spedale of Siena, the
united hospitals of Santa Maria della Scala. The buildings occupy the
whole side of the Piazza del Duomo opposite the façade. According to the
legends, the Spedale was founded at the end of the ninth century by a
cobbler named Sorore, who began by lodging pilgrims who passed through
Siena on their way to Rome, and mending their shoes, then nursing those
of their number who fell sick by the way, and ended by founding a sort
of order or company of men--the "Frati Ospitalieri"--to carry on his
work. Thus began the hospital for the sick; while a dream of a devout
woman, who saw upon this spot a ladder reaching up to Heaven, and little
children passing up it into the arms of the Blessed Virgin, caused a
home for foundlings to be united to it. Modern writers, however,
question the existence of the Beato Sorore, and assign the foundation of
the Spedale to the eleventh century.[103] Be that as it may, throughout
the whole course of Sienese history the Spedale has a sublime record of
devotion and charity, especially in those terrible epochs--that recurred
again and again at intervals--when the pestilence and black death
devastated Siena. Its revenues were largely increased by donations from
the Bishops, by papal commutations of vows, and by bequests from victims
of the pestilence who, having lost their natural heirs, bequeathed all
that they had to the institution. The order of the "Frati Ospitalieri"
was reformed in the thirteenth, and lasted on till the end of the
sixteenth century. The Rector of the Spedale, in the days of the
Republic, had the right of sitting in the Consistory with the Signoria.
Beyond the entrance-hall is a large room known as the Pellegrinaio,
because originally intended for the reception of pilgrims, with a
pleasant view from the window at the end. The walls and ceiling are
covered with frescoes--those on the walls being practically unique in
the story of Sienese art. They represent scenes from the history and
illustrate the work of the Spedale. On the right are three by Domenico
di Bartolo. They represent the marrying of the maidens, with the Baptism
of the children and their nursing (1440); the giving of alms (1443); the
care of the sick and diseased (1440). We are struck at once by their
realism, which we shall find nowhere else in Sienese painting; some of
the heads are powerful, there is excellent grouping and a study of
Sienese costumes in the Quattrocento which is of no small value to the
student. But withal there is a certain uncouthness, at times exaggerated
to the verge of grotesqueness. The painter is following the Florentine
methods, but is not fully equipped with Florentine science; the nude
figure which we see in the foreground of the second fresco is a striking
innovation in a Sienese picture, but it will not stand the
comparison--which it inevitably invites--with the naked youths in
Masaccio's famous scene of St Peter baptising in the Carmine of
Florence. The two frescoes on either side of the window are unimportant.
Then, on the left wall, is another by Domenico di Bartolo (1443), fairly
well preserved, representing the granting of privileges to the Spedale,
in the person of its Rector, by Celestine III.; a magnificent young
Sienese gentleman in the costume of the fifteenth century stands in the
centre of the picture. The next fresco, the entry into the Spedale and a
lady of Siena taking the robe of the order, is by Priamo di Pietro della
Quercia, the brother of the more famous Giacomo; it is somewhat in the
style of Domenico, but with more than his uncouthness and falling a long
way below his excellence. Following that, by Domenico di Bartolo, badly
preserved, is the increase of the buildings of the Spedale with alms
given by the Bishop, the group of horsemen approaching, and nearly
riding down the builder, being presumably fresh benefactors inspired by
the episcopal example. The fresco over the door on the left is by
Vecchietta and represents the "Scala del Paradiso," the dream of the
devout woman, in which the little deserted children are seen mounting up
the ladder to be received into the arms of the Mother of God.
There are other frescoes of less importance in other parts of the
Spedale. In the room on the left of the entrance is a fresco by
Beccafumi, one of his early works, painted in 1512, representing the
meeting of Joachim and Anne. The Infirmary of San Pietro has unimportant
frescoes by Vecchietta, and (inclosed in a tabernacle) the "Madonna of
Mercy," by Domenico di Bartolo. In the Infirmary of San Pio a "Beato
Sorore" is likewise ascribed to Domenico, and in the Infirmary of San
Galgano is a Crucifixion by Taddeo di Bartolo. The church of the
Spedale, dedicated to the Madonna of the Annunciation, was built in the
fifteenth century. The bronze Christ over the high altar is by
Vecchietta; the organ is said to have been designed by Peruzzi.
In the vaults under the Spedale are the meeting-places of several devout
confraternities, which are said to trace their origin from the first
Sienese Christians, the converts of St Ansanus, who met in secret on
this spot in the days of the Roman persecutions. You enter by the last
door in the Piazza. The chapel of Santa Maria sotto le Volte dello
Spedale, now sometimes called Santa Caterina delle Notti, was the
oratory of the "Disciplinati of the Virgin Mary of the Spedale." St
Catherine was intimately associated with this confraternity, which was
conspicuous for its active works of charity, and to which a number of
her disciples belonged. One of her latest letters was written from Rome
to the Prior and Brothers of the Company.[104] It was whilst praying
here in 1380 that Stefano Maconi heard a voice in his heart telling him
that Catherine was dying, and he at once hastened to Rome to receive her
last injunctions. In a little cell, adjoining the oratory, St Catherine
passed long hours in prayer, and from it she assisted at the offices of
the Disciplinati. Here is still shown the hard bed of stone upon which
she slept, in the intervals of tending the sick at the hospital. In a
room beyond, belonging to the confraternity of St Catherine, are some
pictures; a Madonna and Child with Saints by Taddeo di Bartolo, and four
small paintings, much restored, in the manner of Girolamo del Pacchia.
One of the latter represents the members of the confraternity dressed as
you may still see them at the door of St Catherine's house on the day
of her festa. Before reaching the oratory, another flight of steps to
the left leads down to the meeting-place of the Confraternity of the
Madonna. Here are a number of pictures, including a Holy Family by
Bazzi; St Catherine leading Pope Gregory back to Rome (though, as a
matter of fact, she was present only in spirit) by Benvenuto di
Giovanni; a Madonna and Child with Saints by Sano di Pietro. Hung very
high up are two small triptychs--the one representing the Crucifixion,
Flagellation, Entombment--the other the Blessed Virgin with the two
Catherines and other Saints. Mr Berenson ascribes them to Duccio and
Fungai respectively. Beyond is the chapel of the confraternity, with
remains of frescoes by some pupil of Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
San Bernardino commenced his religious life as a member of this
confraternity of Our Lady's Disciplinati. When the pestilence broke out
anew in 1400, and the Spedale was overwhelmed with the sick and the
dying, Bernardino collected a band of young men to aid the Rector in his
task, and devoted himself to the plague-stricken for four months, while
his cousin, Tobia, attended to the women.
From the back of the Spedale the Via di Valle Piatta leads to the little
church of San Sebastiano, the oratory of the Contrada della Selva. Its
interior is in the form of a Greek cross. It was built by Girolamo di
Domenico Ponsi, at the end of the fifteenth century, and its sacristy
contains Madonnas by Matteo di Giovanni and Benvenuto. The adjoining
convent, originally of the Gesuate, has since 1818 been the Foundling
Hospital--Ospizio dei Gettatelli.
From the Via di Valle Piatta the steep Via del Costone winds down the
side of the hill upon which the Duomo and Spedale stand, to the
Fontebranda. Let us take this way into the valley--for we shall be
[Illustration: FONTEBRANDA]
treading in the steps of St Catherine. Here, in her sixth year, she was
returning with her brother from a visit to their sister Bonaventura,
whose husband had a house near the Tower of St Ansanus, and had reached
the turning at which the great red brick mass of San Domenico first
becomes fully visible--rising up grandly on the brow of the opposite
hill, over the humble valley of the tanners and dyers. A shrine and a
faded fresco on the left at the corner still mark the spot of her first
vision. "She saw in the air, above the church of the Friars Preachers of
Siena, our Saviour seated on a wondrous throne, robed as Sovereign
Pontiff, accompanied by the Holy Apostles. He gazed lovingly and
smilingly upon her, and with His holy hand making the sign towards her
of the most holy Cross, He blessed her."[105]
At the foot of the hill is the famous Fontebranda, with its colonnade of
three arches and its four lions' heads. Although the first certain
mention of it is in a document of 1081, and in its present form it only
dates from the middle of the thirteenth century, the fountain has been
famous throughout Tuscany from time immemorial. Possibly, when Siena was
the Roman colony of the Sena Julia, the soldiery of the legions drank
from its waters; before them, the fair-haired Senonian Gauls--if we
accept that form of the legend of the foundation of the city--may have
lingered a moment by it as they followed Brennus in his march to Rome.
It hardly needs the adventitious fame that has accrued to it from the
supposition--stated as a fact by the earliest commentators, but at
present generally rejected by scholars--that it is the Fonte Branda
recorded by Dante in the thirtieth canto of the _Inferno_, for whose
waters, even to cool the burning thirst of Hell's foulest circle,
Maestro Adamo would not have given the sight of his aristocratic
seducers sharing his agony. There is a curious tradition that certain
streets of Siena were--or possibly still are--infested by were-wolves,
who rush through the city at night, and throw themselves into
Fontebranda to recover human form.[106] Be that as it may, Fontebranda
gives its name to the whole of the picturesque district--"il Rione di
Fontebranda"--below the two hills upon which the Duomo and San Domenico
respectively stand. The valley is still, as in St Catherine's days, the
haunt of the tanners and the dyers, and redolent of that peculiar odour
of the curing of hides that ever after haunts the lover of Siena.
The steep Via Benincasa--once the Via de' Tintori--leads up from
Fontebranda into the town. It is the headquarters of the most typical
and vivacious of the Sienese contrade--the "Nobile Contrada dell'Oca." A
few houses up the street, on the left, is a graceful building in the
style of the early Renaissance, which now occupies the site of the house
of Giacomo Benincasa: the _Oratorio di Santa Caterina in Fontebranda_.
"Many from beyond the mountains," so runs an entry in the _Libro dei
decreti di Concistoro_, at the time when Catherine's canonisation was in
progress at Rome, "French, Venetians, Romans and of other nations who
have come to your city, have with great diligence asked for the house
where dwelt in your city the blessed Catherine of Siena; and they have
gone to it with great reverence and devotion, kneeling down in many
places and kissing the walls and the door, saying with many tears: Here
she stood and touched, that precious vessel and gift of God, blessed
Catherine of Siena, who in her life did so many miracles. And many have
wondered that the Commune of Siena in that place has not made some
temple to the praise of God and honour of that Spouse of Christ."[107]
The house had passed through many hands since the death of St Catherine
(who, during the latter part of her life, lived with her mother in
another house in the present Via Romana), and was then in a ruinous
condition, as the document just quoted goes on to state. But in 1464 the
inhabitants of the Costa Fontebranda petitioned the Signoria to buy the
house, offering themselves to pay all the rest of the expenses for the
building and adornment of the chapel or oratory, "the which they are
disposed to do in such form and so well adorned, that it will be to the
honour of God and St Catherine of Siena and of your Magnificent Signory,
and the consolation of all your city." The oratory was begun in the same
year and finished in 1473, after several appeals from the Esecutori di
Gabella to the Signoria for aid in money. In one of these, they remind
the Signoria that "it pertains to the Republic to study that spiritual
devotions and divine temples should increase in the city; especially in
yours, because of the celestial gift of the sweetest liberty which we
enjoy among very few cities in the world." And in another they set forth
that, with the aid of their Magnificent Lordships, the oratory has been
built, "which has been a thing very devout and honourable, especially by
reason of the great concourse of citizens and strangers who go there on
the days of her feast"; but that they need some more things to make it
complete--such as a picture for the altar, candlesticks, an image of the
Saint in high relief, and a sacristy--for which they want three hundred
gold florins.[108]
The lower chapel--now the church of the Contrada--is the one referred to
in these documents, the upper oratories being the result of later acts
of devotion. It is uncertain who was the architect; a certain Francesco
di Duccio del Guasta, as well as Antonio Federighi and other masters,
seems to have had a hand in it. Over the door is a relief of St
Catherine with Angels--an unworthy work by Urbano da Cortona--and on the
façade are the four shields: the _Libertas_ and the _balzana_ between
the Lion of the People and the Goose of the Contrada. The church was the
workshop of Giacomo Benincasa and his sons. Over the altar is a statue
in coloured wood of their glorious daughter and sister, by
[Illustration: HOUSE OF ST CATHERINE]
Neroccio. The five frescoed _putti_ above and the scene of the reception
of the Stigmata are probably by Girolamo del Pacchia. On the right wall
are two admirable frescoes by Girolamo who, like all true Sienese, was
never so truly inspired as when painting Catherine. In the first, she is
saving two Dominican friars from a band of robbers by her intercession.
In the second, she is visiting the convent of Santa Agnese of
Montepulciano, and when she stoops to kiss the foot of the dead virgin
it moves itself to meet her lips, while "a very white manna falling like
heavenly dew" descends upon her. Here the painter has combined two
different legends about her visits to Montepulciano. The two girls
kneeling on the left are Catherine's two nieces (Lisa's daughters) whom
she placed in the convent; the young man in the foreground is apparently
Neri di Landoccio. On the left wall we see her raising up Messer Matteo
di Cenni, the Rector of the Casa della Misericordia, "a notable servant
of God and very devout to this Virgin," when he lay dying of the
pestilence; her figure is full of wonderful dignity and sweetness. This
also is by Girolamo del Pacchia. The fresco representing the Saint at
Florence, assailed by the Ciompi, is by Ventura Salimbeni.
We go up the stairs--which, without unduly stretching a point, we may
surely imagine to be those up which Monna Lapa saw her little daughter
ascending without touching the ground. On the left, we enter a small
oratory, which was one of the rooms of the Benincasa family--probably
that in which they took their meals together. The frescoes, by the
modern Sienese painter, Alessandro Franchi, represent legendary scenes
of Catherine's childhood and life in the family, and her earliest
visions before her public life began. They are at least unpretentious
and devout in sentiment, and the one in which the worthy dyer finds his
daughter at prayer, with the mystical dove hovering over her head, is
decidedly pretty. The picture over the altar, of her receiving the
Stigmata, is perhaps by Girolamo di Benvenuto. The little cell beyond is
the chamber which was made over to her as her own, when her father was
convinced that she was following a supernatural call. Under the wooden
covering of the floor is the very pavement upon which her feet trode,
and, shown beneath bars and glass, is the hard pillow of bricks upon
which her head rested when she slept. Out of the little window above it,
she gave food to the poor--for these rooms are practically on a level
with the upper street. In a glass case certain relics of hers are
preserved; her scent-bottle for the sick; the lantern which she carried
when she visited the plague-stricken or went to the hospital after dark;
the handle of the stick with which she walked--the stick we see
sometimes in her pictures; her veil and a piece of her hair-shirt; and
the covering in which her head was brought from Rome to Siena.
At the head of the stairs, on the right, is the door opening out upon
the little side street that runs off from the steep Costa Sant' Antonio,
by which the house is more usually entered. It bears the inscription
"The house of Catherine, the Spouse of Christ," and when we mount up
into the little court and loggia, we may read another hard saying on our
left: "Living, I beheld Him whom I loved." The design of the court and
loggia is ascribed to Baldassare Peruzzi. Here are two oratories. The
first--which is said to have been Monna Lapa's kitchen--is now somewhat
gorgeously decorated in the style of the Renaissance; the ceiling and
pavement (which latter is kept covered) belong to the end of the
sixteenth century. Over the altar, the picture representing the
reception of the Stigmata--which we find repeated in one form or another
in each of these chapels--is by Fungai. The pictures--with fine
Renaissance pilasters between--date from the latter part of the
sixteenth century onwards, and represent scenes from St Catherine's
life, with other Saints and Beati of Siena. In contrast with those in
the lower oratory, they are largely concerned with her later life and
with her public actions; her saving the souls of the tortured felons;
her freeing a woman from an evil spirit (by Pietro Sorri); her
persuading the Roman People to submit to Pope Urban (by Alessandro
Casolani); and her inducing Gregory to return to Rome. The more
artistically important of the series are her mystical marriage with
Christ, by Arcangiolo Salimbeni, and her canonisation by Pope Pius II.
(with the Blessed Bernardo and the Blessed Nera of the Tolomei below),
by Francesco Vanni. The second oratory--the _Oratorio del
Crocifisso_--was built in the sixteenth century on the site of the
garden of the family. Over the altar is the sacred Crucifix from Santa
Cristina at Pisa--a painting ascribed to Giunta Pisano--praying before
which, on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, 1375, in that little church on the
banks of the Arno, Catherine is said, like Francis of Assisi, to have
received in her flesh the _ultimo sigillo_. "I saw," she told Frate
Raimondo, "our Crucified Lord coming down upon me surrounded by a great
light. Thereat by the force of my spirit, that desired to go forth and
meet its Creator, my body was constrained to rise. Then from the marks
of His most sacred wounds I saw descend upon me five bloody rays, which
were directed towards the hands, the feet and the heart of my body.
Wherefore, knowing the mystery, I cried out suddenly, 'Ah, my Lord God,
I beseech you, let not these wounds appear outwardly in my body; it is
enough for me to have them internally.' Then whilst I was yet speaking,
before those rays reached me, their blood-red colour changed to a
marvellous brightness, and in the semblance of pure light they came to
the five parts of my body, to wit, the hands, the feet, and the
heart."[109]
In the Via Benincasa to the right of the door of the church--over which
is a bust of Catherine by Giacomo Cozzarelli, who is said to have
designed the loggia--are the rooms belonging to the "Nobile Contrada
dell'Oca." In the Sala delle Adunanze, you may see the trophies that
their _fantini_, or jockeys, have won in the race for the Palio.
The Contrada should be visited on the Sunday after the feast of Santa
Caterina. The whole Via Benincasa is decorated--_ammaiata_, as they say
in Siena--with bunting, with the flags of their own and the allied
contrade, with brackets to hold lights and with white wooden geese in
every form of flight or rest, but always combined with a green perch and
a red bracket to give the Italian tricolour which is also the _divisa_
of the Contrada. The corners of the streets that lead into the Via
Benincasa are guarded by larger wooden geese of this type, set upon the
walls of the houses, while at the bottom of the street, at the church,
the way is closed by a temporary tabernacle and altar. From earliest
morning, Mass is offered up unceasingly in the three oratories, while
the _figurino_ (the gaily decked representative of the Contrada) and the
_alfieri_, waving their banners and preceded by a band, march through
the city, to pay honour in this fashion to the houses of their friends
and the headquarters of the allied contrade. All through the day the
throng moves unceasingly through the street and the sacred house, until
in the evening there is the procession. Starting from the parish church
of Sant' Antonio, it makes its way down the steep, densely packed Via
Benincasa. Following the band, comes the _figurino_; then a long train
of little children dressed as saints and angels--foremost among
[Illustration: VIA DELLA GALLUZZA]
them being a group of three, a little boy, a little girl, and an elder
girl, representing the Sposalizio of Caterina with the divine Bambino
under the patronage of the Madonna. The brothers of the Company of St
Catherine follow, bearing the silver bust of their patroness, with the
priest of the Contrada. The end of the procession is brought up by the
picturesque young Ancients, waving and tossing up their banners in the
approved Sienese fashion, until all the steep, crowded Via Benincasa
seems a whirling mass of colour.
And St Catherine's power of healing factions in her native city has not
yet ceased. In this present year of grace, 1902, on the day in which the
popolani of the Oca celebrated the feast of their glorious patroness,
there was a solemn reconciliation between them and the rival Contrada of
the Torre, the healing of the famous feud of many years' standing. I am
writing too soon after the event to know whether the peace has proved
durable!
Upon the hill above Fontebranda rises the great red brick church of San
Domenico--after the Duomo the most important Gothic ecclesiastical
building in Siena. It dates almost from the very beginning of the
Dominican order, being begun shortly after 1220, though not finished
until the middle of the fifteenth century. St Dominic himself may be
said to have presided over its beginning, and the Angelical Doctor has
walked in the cloisters where once the convent was. The soaring
Campanile was raised in 1340. Though considerably altered--in the
sixteenth century it was used as a fortress from which the Spanish
soldiery might command the city--it is always the same building that St
Catherine knew, and that is so intimately connected with the events of
her life; presumably there are few buildings in Italy so quick with the
living spirit of one woman. Her beloved Dominicans, alas, are here no
longer; the convent was suppressed by the French invaders at the
beginning of last century, and, after the restoration of the Austrian
Grand Dukes, the Benedictines were substituted for the Dominicans. The
black monks have gone too--leaving a few to serve the church--and the
convent has been transformed into barracks for the cavalry of modern
Italy.
The interior has been completely restored, but its original austere
simplicity is still preserved. The picture over the third altar on the
right in the nave, representing the Assassination of St Peter Martyr,
and painted by Arcangiolo Salimbeni in 1579, is one of the most
meritorious works of the later school of Sienese painters. Over the last
altar on the right the altar-piece is formed of three different pictures
by different artists and without the slightest connection with each
other, save that they were all painted in the latter part of the
fifteenth century; the Nativity of the Saviour is by Francesco di
Giorgio, one of his best works, showing a curious imitation of Luca
Signorelli in the adoring Angels and shepherds; above, the Pietà with
Angels, St Michael and the Magdalene, is by Matteo di Giovanni; the
predella--representing St Catherine's visions, the Martyrdom of St
Sebastian, the Massacre of the Innocents, St Dominic preaching, St Mary
of Egypt--is ascribed to Fungai. Over the high altar the beautiful
marble Ciborium, with the risen Christ above and the four Evangelists
below, is the work of one of the chief Florentine sculptors of the
latter half of the Quattrocento, Benedetto da Maiano. The two marble
Angels, kneeling on either side of the altar, are also his. There is a
fine view of the Duomo from the back of the choir. In the second chapel,
to the left of the choir, is one of the loveliest and most
characteristic pictures of the Sienese school--the "Santa Barbara"
painted by Matteo di Giovanni in 1479. The Virgin Martyr of the Tower
sits enthroned, in robes gorgeous with gold and embroidery, accompanied
by St Mary Magdalene and St Catherine of the Wheels; two Angels crown
her, two more make melody behind her throne. The faces of the three
women--particularly the golden-haired maidens, Catherine and
Barbara--are full of pensive sweetness; they have dreamed among the
lilies all day and all night of love, such passionless love as that of
which the _Vita Nuova_ tells, while the faction fights have splashed
Siena's streets with blood, and in her palace chambers the things have
been done of which her novelists speak. And, surely, when the Angels
sing to their lutes or viols, it will be no hymn, but some such amorous
canzone as that with which Casella refreshed Dante's soul on the shores
of Purgatory. The lunette above represents the Adoration of the Magi,
and was especially stipulated for by the worthy bakers who gave Matteo
the commission. The bright picture opposite shows a trace of the
influence of Benozzo Gozzoli; it represents the Madonna and Child with
Saints and Angels, with the Pietà and four Angels in the lunette, and
was painted by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1483. In the chapel beyond there
is another Matteo di Giovanni: the Madonna and Child with Angels, St
Jerome and the Baptist, in three divisions, with a rocky landscape
background, damaged and neglected. In the chapel on the right of the
choir, the Madonna of the Rosary--or rather the Deity with Saints,
surrounding an old votive picture of the Madonna--is by Bazzi, the
predella of the fifteen mysteries being by one of his pupils. The second
chapel on the right belonged to the "German Nation" of the University of
Siena, and is full of tombstones of noble young German students, who
came to the famous Studio to acquire wisdom, and found a grave. One
epitaph begins, _Svevia me genuit, Senae rapuere sed ossa_. The chapel
has the pathos that inevitably clings to the thought of hopes cut short,
of untimely death in a foreign land.
It is not for these things that we visit San Domenico to-day, but for
the glorious chapel of St Catherine. Over it we read another of those
hard sayings that sum up, mystically, the story of her inner life: "This
chapel holds the head of Catherine. Dost thou seek her heart? Nay, that
Christ bears inclosed in His breast." The shrine itself, over the altar,
which contains this sacred relic--sacred, surely, to all lovers of the
noblest things in the literature of mysticism no less than to Roman
Catholics--is a work of the third quarter of the fifteenth century, and
is probably by Giovanni di Stefano. The frescoes on either side of
it--representing the _Svenimento_, St Catherine fainting into the arms
of her two attendant nuns, Alessia and Francesca, overcome by the glory
of the vision of her celestial Bridegroom, and St Catherine miraculously
fed with the Food of Angels in the Sacred Host--are by Bazzi, and were
painted in 1526. Hardly elsewhere (save, perhaps, in the St Sebastian of
the Uffizi painted in the previous year) has the wayward painter of
Vercelli touched such a height of inspiration; in conception and
execution alike, they are among the supreme triumphs of Italian art. The
fresco on the left--representing the execution of Niccolò di Toldo, St
Catherine ecstatically following the upward flight of the soul she has
saved--is also Bazzi's, but less excellent. It is overcrowded and badly
composed, carelessly executed in parts; the brawny figure and bearded
head of the victim hardly suggest the delicate young nobleman, the
_agnello_ of the _Leggenda minore_ whose blood has been unjustly
shed;[110] but nothing could be more beautiful than the kneeling figure
of the Saint herself. The beautiful pilasters between the frescoes, and
the Angels and Prophets under the arch, are likewise Bazzi's. Bazzi left
the work unfinished, and some fifty years after his death Francesco
Vanni took
[Illustration: _The Ecstasy of St. Catherine._
_Detail from Bazzi's Fresco._]
it up, in 1593. By Vanni (who, of course, will not be confused with
Andrea di Vanni, Catherine's contemporary and friend) is the picture on
the right, painted in oil colours, where she is seen liberating a
possessed woman from a demon; by him, too, are the figures of her two
first biographers, the Blessed Raimondo da Capua and Frate Tommaso Nacci
Caffarini, the authors of the _Leggenda_ and the _Leggenda minore_
respectively. Beautiful as the shrine is--and it would have been perfect
in its harmony had only Bazzi completed the decorations--it is
impossible at times not to feel that there is something more
melodramatic in its treatment than quite accords with the simpler spirit
of the dyer's daughter of Fontebranda. The _graffito_ work in coloured
marble on the pavement represents Aesculapius among wild beasts. It is
doubtful whether this is connected with the fact that several physicians
of the Benzi family were buried in the chapel, or a part of the
decorations in honour of the Saint.
San Domenico should be visited on the day of St Catherine's Feast, which
in Siena is kept on April 29th. The nave is hung with the bright banners
of the contrade; Mass after Mass is offered up without intermission
throughout the morning at the shrine, while crowds of the devout humbly
and silently approach the altar, to be fed with that Bread of the
Angels, "which," says the collect for that day, "sustained even the
temporal life of the blessed Virgin Catherine." The curtain is raised,
and behind the gilded bars of the shrine the pale, strange face appears,
its features still recognisable. The altar blazes with candles and
glares with artificial lilies, while natural flowers, lilies of the
valley and white roses--more fitting tribute to her who so loved the
simple flowers of the field--are offered up at the chapel rails. And, in
this sudden advent of reality, Bazzi's beautiful melodrama palls.
In the sacristy, on this day, are shown certain other relics--her
discipline; her portable altar-stone; the sacramental cloths which she
made for it with her own hands; the bull from Pope Gregory at Avignon
granting her the dispensation to have Mass upon it wherever she went;
and one of her fingers. The latter relic is--somewhat
unfittingly--carried in procession through the church at sunset. The
sacristy contains a banner painted with the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin by Bazzi.
The chapel on the right of the entrance, the Cappella delle Volte, over
which is a large painted Crucifix of the fifteenth century, was not
separated from the rest of the church in the days of St Catherine, as it
is now. It was the chapel in which she habitually prayed, and by one of
its pillars she knelt always, to hear Mass in the church below. Here her
visions came to her, here had she those strange mystical revelations of
the Divine Word. "Disposing wondrous ascensions in her heart, Catherine
went up these steps, to pray in the chapel to Christ her Spouse." Thus
runs the writing over the original steps, piously preserved and guarded
by bars, on the left, by which Catherine mounted into the cell of
mystery; not those modern ones by which we now go up into the little
chapel that witnessed this wondrous union of a woman's mind and heart
with the suprasensible.
It is somewhat bare to-day, painfully coated with modern paint and
whitewash. It is hung with paintings representing scenes from her life
and death, of little value from an artistic point of view, though
one--that of her walking with her Master and Spouse--has a certain
pathos and sweetness. Two narrow pictures over the
entrance--representing her giving the cross of her rosary, and clothing
the Divine Beggar with her robe--are earlier and better than the larger
canvasses. But over the altar is a priceless treasure, the famous
portrait of her by her friend and correspondent Andrea di Vanni,
perhaps painted in her life-time and in any case her authentic likeness,
in which the _mantellata_ is giving her hand to kiss to a kneeling
follower of her own sex--in the way to which (when men were concerned)
such exception was taken during her life. In the centre of the chapel a
piece of the old pavement where she trode--walked with Christ, in the
phrase of the legend--is religiously preserved. Elsewhere, marble
tablets on the floor are marked with heart, cross or robe, and
inscribed: "Christ changeth heart with Catherine"; "Catherine bestoweth
her cross on Christ"; "Catherine clothes Christ with her robe." For into
this chapel, as into others, the beggars came--and among them the
disguised Spouse of her soul. Still may we see the pillar against which
she leaned in her ecstasies--the pillar that is idealised in Bazzi's two
frescoes on either side of the shrine below--though now it is covered
and modernised like the rest of the chapel. An inscription hung upon
it--a seventeenth century copy of one of much older date (but not
earlier than her canonisation)--strikes the keynote of the whole chapel,
and I will therefore translate it in full:--
"In this chapel, there befell many wonderful actions to St Catherine of
Siena, among the which are those set down below, as the blessed Raimondo
her confessor telleth, and they are also known by ancient tradition,
besides the many others that befell in this present church.
"Here she was clothed in the habit of St Dominic, and she was the first
virgin who up to that time had been thus clothed.
"Here she stayed apart to hear the divine offices, and here continually
had she divine colloquies, conversing familiarly with Jesus Christ her
Spouse. Here she said the divine office, she had frequent ecstasies, and
for the most part in these she used to lean against this pilaster, in
one of which ecstasies she was zealously portrayed by a painter on the
wall outside of this chapel.[111] And from that time this pilaster has
been, and still is formidable to the furies of Hell, and many persons
possessed of devils have been delivered thereby.
"Here she gave a little cross of silver, that she had threaded to her
rosary, to Jesus Christ in the shape of a poor man, who afterwards told
her that He would show it on the Day of Judgment to all the world.
"Here she gave her vest to Jesus Christ in the shape of a poor man, who
afterwards robed her with an invisible robe whereby she never again
suffered cold.
"Here Jesus Christ appeared to her surrounded by light, as she was
wishing to descend by this place and go back to her house; and when
straightway she fell to the ground thereat, He opened her breast and put
there His own heart, saying, 'Lo, most dear daughter mine, even as the
other day I took from thee thy heart, so now do I give thee Mine own, by
the which shall thou ever live.'
"While she was leaning in ecstasy against this pilaster, a candle that
was there alight, in honour of some saints, fell upon the veils of her
head and entirely burnt itself out upon them, without doing any harm or
making any mark.
"While her confessor, Frate Raimondo, was celebrating Mass at the altar
of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, she remained at the foot of this
chapel and desired to be fed with the Holy Communion; but because it was
late, and the confessor knew not that she was there, she stayed there
patiently; then did Jesus Christ in person communicate her with part of
the Host consecrated at that Mass, and the confessor, not finding it,
remained much afflicted until it was revealed to him by her."
To many of us these things may seem mere priestly legends, and we may
find, even in Catherine's more solemn revelations, but little to meet
our daily needs. Assuredly, few would maintain that Christ actually
appeared, objectively, to His servant--that she walked with Him in aught
save the spirit--that He spoke words to her otherwise than in her own
heart. Yet, who shall set limits to the potential ascents of the human
spirit when held so slightly by its _mortal velo_, when so little
encumbered or shadowed by the _nube di sua mortalità_ as was that of
Caterina Benincasa? In those mystical suprasensible regions--during that
half hour in which there is silence in Heaven--Catherine was a voyager
alone, a sure wanderer in fields where our footsteps to-day cannot tread
even in imagination. Let us adapt to ourselves the word of Frate
Raimondo: "We are in the valley, and we presume to judge concerning what
is on the summit of the Mountain."
CHAPTER VIII
_The Last Days of the Republic_
Fabio di Pandolfo Petrucci had been expelled from Siena in September
1524, by a temporary alliance of all factions in the State. Of the three
chief leaders in the revolution, Giovanni Martinozzi belonged to the
Monte de' Nove, Giovanni Battista Piccolomini to the Gentiluomini, while
Mario Bandini was a grandson of Andrea Todeschini Piccolomini and
therefore associated to the Monte del Popolo. Mario, who was a young man
of about twenty-three, was at the head of the _Libertini_, an
association of the most ardent republicans in Siena, who had sworn
relentless and perpetual enmity to all who should attempt anything
against the liberties of the Republic.
There were solemn religious processions, with the "Madonna delle Grazie"
carried through the city in thanksgiving for the liberation of Siena
from tyranny. But the Noveschi were by no means prepared to relinquish
their prepotency. They rallied round Alessandro Bichi, who, with the
favour of Pope Clement VII. and the Florentines, backed by the authority
of the French who, under the Duke of Albany, were marching through
Tuscany against the imperial forces in Naples, assumed the position from
which the Petrucci had fallen. The three Monti were reduced to one, the
_Monte de' Nobili Reggenti_, and the power of the Balìa was vested in a
select committee of sixteen, of which Alessandro was the recognised
head. By common consent of contemporary writers, he was an able and
high-minded man, with no blot upon his character--save this fatal
usurpation of his country's liberties. At the suggestion of the Medicean
rulers of Florence and with financial aid from them, he was beginning to
build a fortress or citadel on the hill of San Domenico to secure his
hold, when the Battle of Pavia (February 1525) overthrew the power of
France and made the Emperor, Charles V., arbiter of the destinies of
Italy. The Libertini, headed by Mario Bandini and Girolamo Severini, saw
that the time had come to deliver the Republic. Both parties entered
into negotiations with the Emperor, through his vicar in Lombardy and
his ambassador in Rome; Charles took Siena under his protection for the
sum of 15,000 ducats. The appearance of the imperial commissaries in
Siena gave the occasion for the rising. On April 6th, 1525, while
Alessandro Bichi was counting out the money to them in the palace of the
Archbishop, a band of Libertini headed by Giovanni Battista Fantozzo
burst in and stabbed him to death. In the meanwhile the populace had
risen throughout the city at the call of Mario Bandini, while the Mangia
Tower rang out the alarm. The mercenaries of the guard of the Piazza
held the openings to the Terzo di San Martino for the Noveschi, with
artillery, but appear to have made little real resistance; comparatively
few persons had been killed on either side, when evening saw the
Libertini masters of the situation. The body of Alessandro was quietly
conveyed to Sant' Agostino and buried there.
The next day, the General Council of the Campana annulled all that had
been done in Siena since the passage of the Duke of Albany, dissolved
the _Monte de' Nobili Reggenti_, created a new Collegio di Balìa,
divided the government equally between the three Monti (the Dodicini,
who had by this time lost all importance, being included in the Monte
del Popolo), and appointed a magistracy of fifteen, afterwards
twenty-one, _Conservatori di Libertà_. Alessandro's son Antonio Maria
Bichi, Giovanni Martinozzi, Lattanzio Petrucci and a number of other
Noveschi left the city, and were put under bounds. Siena was once more a
free Republic under the protection of the Emperor.
[Illustration: _A suburban chapel._]
It was not hard for these Noveschi to gain the ear of Clement VII. and
the aid of the Florentines. The Medicean Pontiff looked with jealous
eyes upon the fair dominion of the Republic, and early in 1526 he
declared war against Siena, with the professed object of restoring these
exiled citizens to their country. The Balìa hired soldiers under Giulio
Colonna and others, and prepared for a stout resistance. Two
conspiracies were discovered to betray Siena to the Pope, and for his
share in one of them Luzio Aringhieri--bastard son of that Messer
Alberto whose glory is writ large upon the Duomo--was beheaded in front
of the Palazzo. Then Andrea Doria with the papal fleet seized Talamone,
while the Sienese contado was simultaneously invaded by the pontifical
army under Count Virginio dell' Anguillara and Count Lodovico of
Pitigliano, and the Florentine army under their commissary, Roberto
Pucci. Attempts to capture Montalcino and Montereggioni having failed,
the two armies united before the walls of Siena itself, their main force
taking up its position outside the Porta Camollia. Realising too late
that the Pope had not made all these warlike preparations for their
benefit, but was meditating the complete subjugation of the Republic,
the leaders of the _fuorusciti_--Aldello Placidi and Giovanni
Martinozzi--left the pontifical camp and went back, one to Rome, the
other to Florence, rather then witness the ruin of their native land.
While the papal artillery thundered away unceasingly from the side of
Camollia, the Balìa elected seven deputies to direct solemn processions
with prayers and litanies, and decreed the renewal of the donation of
Siena to the Madonna. A devout lady whom the citizens held to be endowed
with prophetic spirit, Margherita Bichi, the widow of Francesco
Buonsignori, declared that it was the Blessed Virgin's will that the
feast of her Immaculate Conception--which, it may be remembered, had not
yet been proclaimed an article of faith--should ever after be solemnly
celebrated in this her chosen city, "and further that Mary Immaculate
willed that next Sunday all the Magistrates in whose hands was the
lordship of the city should go to the Cathedral, having confessed and
communicated, to that Image to which at other times they had presented
themselves, and there they should have the Mass of the Immaculate
Conception celebrated and then should confirm and renew the donation of
the city to its true Patroness."[112] On the day appointed the Priors
and Captain of the People, followed by the members of the Balìa and the
Nine of the Guard with all the other officials, assembled at the
Palazzo and, preceded by a great banner upon which was depicted the
Assumption, moved in procession to the Duomo. There--after the votive
Mass of the Immaculate Conception had been sung--the Prior of the
Concistoro, stepping up to the altar, solemnly, in the name of the
Republic, renewed the donation and surrendered the keys of the gates to
the officiating priest, the canon Giovanni Pecci, who formally accepted
and then gave them back.
Meanwhile the papal bombardment continued day after day, answered back
by the artillery of the Sienese. The Portone beyond the gate of Camollia
was a heap of ruins, but the guns had been badly placed and did little
further harm to the walls; the Sienese, under Enea Sacchini, had made a
number of successful sorties, and the pontifical generals were not
prepared to venture upon a general assault. An attempt at intervention
by an imperial agent, Don Hugo de Moncada, failed. Then on July 25th,
the feast of St James and St Christopher, the forces of the Republic,
under Giulio Colonna and Giovanni Maria Pini, suddenly issued out of the
Porta Camollia and fell upon the enemy, while a smaller body of horse
and foot sallied out of the Porta Fontebranda, drove the irregular
cavalry of the Conte dell' Anguillara in headlong flight before them and
took the "blind Papal Florentines," _quei Papal Fiorentini ciechi_ (as
the people sang of them), in the flank. Seized by a sudden panic, the
whole army broke and fled in hopeless confusion, leaving their camp and
artillery--the latter captured by Mario Bandini at the head of a band of
young Libertini. Anguillara, the pontifical general, "a very fat man and
with little foresight in war," as a contemporary calls him, led the rout
half dressed; while the Florentine commissary, Roberto Pucci, after some
better show of valour, made the best of his way to Poggibonsi. As for
the rank and file, pursued for only one mile, they ran for ten. The
Sienese re-entered the city in triumph, with the captured guns and
banners; three days of thanksgiving and festivity followed, and votive
pictures in San Martino and the little oratory in Salicotto still tell
the tale. "You know," wrote Francesco Vettori to Machiavelli, "that I
unwillingly allow myself to believe anything supernatural; but this
defeat seems to me to have been as extraordinary--I will not say
miraculous--as anything that has happened in war from 1494 to now; and
it seems to me like certain histories that I have read in the Bible,
when a terror entered into men so that they fled and knew not from
whom."[113]
With the imperialists ravening like hell-hounds in Rome and Florence in
revolt against the Medici, Pope Clement soon had his hands too full of
more deadly business to interfere with Siena. But the Sienese returned
to their mad factions. Some of the _fuorusciti_ under Giovanni
Martinozzi harried the Valdichiana, and Francesco Petrucci made a
temporary reappearance upon the scenes, threatening Massa. Within the
city the Popolani, led by the Libertini, were attempting to keep down
the Noveschi. In July 1527--practically on the anniversary of the great
victory of the past year--there was a sanguinary tumult, in which the
populace sacked the houses of the leading Noveschi, murdered the
younger Pietro Borghesi and a number of others in cold blood. The Monte
de' Nove was deprived of any share in the government and annulled, the
old Monte de' Riformatori being revived in its stead, and the government
was divided between the three Monti--Popolani, Gentiluomini (with
Dodicini), Riformatori. Some of the Noveschi were incorporated into the
two latter Monti, but the greater part--the Petrucci, Borghesi, Bichi,
Placidi, Bellanti, Bulgarini, and the like--was "for ever" admonished
and excluded. A number of them were declared rebels and their goods
confiscated. Thus permanently ended the supremacy of the Monte de' Nove
in the Republic of Siena, the State remaining in the hands of the
Popolani and Riformatori. Several of the leaders of the Noveschi were
given offices in the Papal States, Aldello Placidi being made Senator of
Rome and Fabio Petrucci Governor of Spoleto.
Alfonso Piccolomini d'Aragona, Duke of Amalfi, a grand-nephew of Pius
III., who was a _persona gratissima_ with the people, was now appointed
Captain-General of the forces of the Republic. Siena threw herself into
the arms of the Caesarian Majesty of the Emperor and the Catholic
Majesty of Spain, combined in the person of Charles V. The Emperor--to
whom Siena was the key of Tuscany--sent a garrison of Spanish soldiers,
with a series of vicars or governors, beginning with Don Lopez de Soria,
who reformed the government again and readmitted the Noveschi, headed by
Francesco Petrucci. These, however, no longer held their old position,
and were only allowed a fourth part of the Balìa. There were furious
tumults again in 1530, when Francesco Petrucci and Giovanni Maria Pini
(the hero of the victory at the Porta Camollia) led the Noveschi, and
Mario Bandini, as usual, headed the popular opposition, which readily
got the upper hand. In one of these Giovanni Martinozzi was killed. An
imperial army under the command of the overbearing young Ferrante
Gonzaga threatened the city in consequence; Ferrante arrested Mario
Bandini, who had come out to confer with him on behalf of the Popolani
and Riformatori, but he was unable to reform the government in the
favour of the Noveschi. His successor, the popular Marchese del Vasto,
succeeded in effecting a compromise.
[Illustration: _Banner-holder in the Piazza Postierla_]
Trouble of another kind arose in 1535. A number of artisans and small
shopkeepers, butchers, tailors, and the like, with other restless
spirits among the lower orders, formed themselves into an association
known as the Bardotti. There were a few more or less educated men among
them, who fired their imaginations by reading Livy and Machiavelli, and
at last they attempted a revolution, demanding tribunes after the old
Roman model. The thing was a ludicrous failure, and Mario Bandini, upon
whose support they relied, told them plainly to go back to their shops,
and let affairs of State alone. It was on this occasion that the painter
Pacchiarotti, who had posed as one of their leaders in the secret
conventicles of the wine cellars, was so terrified that he hid himself
in the vaults under the Osservanza, and even climbed into a tomb and lay
by a corpse for security.
In April 1536 the Emperor himself came to Siena for a few days, and had
a superb reception from the city, whose babes unborn were said to lisp
the name of Caesar. These babes were destined to be disillusioned before
they grew up to manhood. There were more tumults in 1539 between the
Noveschi and the democratic orders, and Francesco Petrucci was again
declared a rebel. The Duke of Amalfi was dismissed in 1541, and the
Emperor sent two ministers, Monsignor Perrenot de Granvelle and
Francesco Sfondrato of Cremona (both of them afterwards cardinals) to
rule the city in his name. They reduced the Balìa to forty, dividing it
equally between the four Monti, and reformed the State thoroughly and
equitably, so that "for about two years the city lived better and more
peacefully than it had done in any time past."[114] Then a change came.
They were succeeded by Don Juan de Luna, a Spaniard, in 1543, who openly
favoured the Noveschi, with whose aid, he imagined, he might rule Siena
for himself under the Crown of Spain. He attempted to make a matrimonial
alliance with the Piccolomini by offering one of his daughters to
Giacomo di Antonio Maria; but his overtures were scornfully rejected.
The Noveschi plotted to fall upon the people, to butcher their leaders
at a bull-fight. That failing, in February 1546, trusting in Don Juan
and his soldiers, they rose in arms, headed by Bartolommeo Petrucci,
shouting "Imperio e Nove! Imperio e Nove!" But all the orders united
against them, and they were repulsed, a number of them being slaughtered
by the infuriated populace. Don Juan and his Spaniards evacuated the
city, and the few Noveschi who had not fled were again deprived of the
government, which was placed for three months in the hands of a
committee of ten--three from each of the other Monti and the Captain of
the People--to have the authority of the Balìa. The Archbishop Francesco
Bandini, who was as much a peacemaker as his brother Mario was a
firebrand, and Marcantonio Amerighi, were sent as ambassadors to explain
to the Emperor what had happened. In this and the following year there
were processions and festivities of all kinds in the Campo and
throughout Siena, "the city being all joyous, thinking that they had
conquered, and imagining that never again would any one molest it."[115]
But in 1548, at the instigation of the exiled Noveschi, a famous
personage came to represent the Emperor in Siena: Diego Hurtado de
Mendoza, scholar, soldier, politician, the future author of the _Guerra
de Granada_. He restored the Noveschi, reorganised the Balìa and the
Signoria, and quartered Spanish soldiers in San Domenico, San Francesco,
Sant'Agostino, and the Servi. He ruled the Republic in the most despotic
fashion; he had brought with him a number of blank sheets of paper with
the Emperor's signature, and whenever he wanted anything from the Balìa
or the Senate, he simply filled up one of these, and declared it was the
will of Caesar. By his orders all the arms and weapons in Siena, both
public and private, were collected in San Domenico, and all the
artillery placed in its piazza by the side of the Campanile. The Balìa
trembled before him, and instantly granted all that he demanded. He was,
wrote a satirical poet of the epoch, "a foe to all Italy, to Heaven and
to the World, and thought to make himself in Siena second to God."[116]
A certain Tommaso Politi sent a letter to the Balìa, warning them that
they were throwing away the liberties of their country; the servile
Collegio handed over the letter to Don Diego, and the unfortunate writer
was beheaded.
At last Don Diego announced that the Catholic Majesty intended to build
a citadel at the walls of Siena, and that the Sienese themselves would
have to supply what was necessary. At this, the unmistakable death-note
to their liberties, even the servile Balìa was terrified, while a cry of
dismay and horror rose from all the people, high and low; certain of the
Noveschi alone were secretly favouring the project. The Concistoro
decided to appeal simultaneously to Caesar and to the Blessed Virgin.
Girolamo di Lattanzio Tolomei, and after him the historian Orlando
Malavolti (the latter with a petition signed by more than a thousand
citizens), were sent to the Emperor; while in Siena itself, Lelio
Tolomei (Girolamo's brother) delivered a passionate harangue to the
Senate, and a solemn vow was made to the Madonna to marry every year, so
long as the liberty of the Republic lasted, fifty poor maidens at the
expense of the State, with a dowry of twenty-five gold florins each, and
it was decided once more to renew the donation of Siena to her. This was
in November 1550. On the Sunday after the decision had been taken, the
Signori, headed by the Captain of the People, went in procession to the
Duomo with the fifty maidens and the keys of the city. A solemn Mass of
the Holy Spirit was sung, the Signori and others communicated, and then
the Captain, Claudio Zuccantini, made "a most beauteous prayer," in this
wise:--
"If ever in times past, Immaculate Mother of God, our Patroness and
Advocate, with compassionate prayers thou hast moved the mercy of thine
only-begotten Son towards this thy most devout city, may it please thee
to-day, more than ever before, to do so. For albeit thou hast saved it
many times from various accidents and fearful wars, as from that of
Montaperti and this other last of Camollia, never has there hung over it
an affliction equal to this of to-day, when its only benefactor and
protector, Charles V., desires to make in it a Castle. We cannot--and
would not--resist him with any other means, save by thy welcome
intercession with thy beloved Son, that He may infuse into him a more
benign spirit towards this his most devoted city, especially as it has
never sinned against his Majesty nor against the Sacred Empire.
"Take from him, in pity, such a thought, which befits not our sincere
faith, and which brings with it the destruction of our honour, our
dignity, our dear liberty, preserved until to-day under thy great
guardianship and loving protection.
"Behold, most sacred Virgin, present before thee the hearts, the souls
of thy Sienese people, repentant for all their past errors, kneeling and
prostrate before thy throne to beg mercy and deliverance from the
projected Castle. And I, as the least of all and thy servant, in the
name of the Republic, by decree of the most ample Senate, make to thee a
perpetual vow that--so long as, by thy intercession, our dear and sweet
liberty shall last--fifty poor little maidens shall every year be
married at the public expense, with a dowry for each of twenty-five
florins, to thy greater glory and honour. Further, I consecrate to thee
the city: I present to thee anew the keys, which were restored to us
before, as to Her who is the safest and the most potent to guard them.
"Open with them the heart of Caesar, removing from it his unnecessary
design. Dispose him rather to preserve us for those devout and faithful
subjects that we have been and ever shall be, to his Caesarian Majesty
and to the Sacred Empire. Lastly, take away from this most devoted
People every memory of private injuries, and unite it with eternal peace
and concord; to the end that, thus pacific and united, it may be able
to serve God and thyself and his Caesarian Majesty, and to rejoice
without end in our cherished liberty."[117]
But the Emperor, to whom the possession of Siena was invaluable and who
(since the fortresses of Livorno and Florence had been consigned to Duke
Cosimo) had no other strong place in Tuscany, was resolute. He answered
Malavolti graciously, assuring him that it was not to take away, but to
maintain the liberty of Siena and to secure good government, that he was
having this fortress built; but when, a little later on, more
ambassadors arrived, "in mourning robes, as though in anticipation of
the loss of their liberty," he answered shortly that his imperial orders
had been given, and refused to listen to any further representations on
the subject. "We must drink this bitter chalice," wrote Girolamo
Tolomei, "and swallow this red-hot trivet."
In the meanwhile, the foundations of the citadel had
[Illustration: _An old Fanale in the Piazza San Giusto_]
been laid on the Poggio di San Prospero, the site of the present Lizza,
though the architect Peloro had, according to Sozzini, "made the design
of such greatness for the benefit of his city, that his Catholic Majesty
would not finish it in thirty years." Dressed in red cloth, Don Diego
came every day that he was in Siena to hurry on the work. But a weird
figure rose up in the midst of it. The hermit Brandano had wandered
through Italy preaching repentance, clothed in sackcloth with a halter
round his neck, a Crucifix in one hand and a death's-head in the other.
On the eve of the sack of Rome he had appeared in the Eternal City,
foretelling the scourge, denouncing Pope Clement and his cardinals.
Beaten and imprisoned, he had next gone as a pilgrim to our Lady's
shrines in Spain, where he had been thrown into the dungeons of the
Inquisition. Now he suddenly stood out on the hill-side, watching the
builders at their work, chanting aloud in weird wailing tones the text
of the psalm: _Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum_, "Except the Lord build
the house, they labour in vain that build it"; and then, when men
stopped to listen, he cried again in a louder tone: _Nisi Dominus
custodierit civitatem_, "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain." Driven off the works, he returned again and again,
declaring that he spoke by the will of God. Diego sent him to the
galleys, but the Spanish commander at Port'Ercole found no cause in him
and sent him back to Siena. Here he designed what Sozzini calls _un
bellissimo e notabil colpo_, and hurled two huge stones at the head of a
red-coated Spaniard, fondly imagining that he was the hated Diego.
Arrested and brought before the governor, he calmly avowed his attempt
to kill him for the sake of his fellow-citizens. Either an unwonted
access of magnanimity or superstitious fear made the Spaniard spare his
life, and he was merely banished from Siena on pain of death, the guards
at the gates being bidden never to let him enter the city again.
But other aids than supernatural were preparing. A number of Sienese
gentlemen and artisans alike left the city and their business, staying
in their villas or in the contado rather than see this hideous monument
of servitude rising higher day by day. Two of these, Girolamo and Lelio
Tolomei, died suddenly--men whispered Spanish poison. An extensive
conspiracy was concocted--in Rome, Ferrara, and Venice--for the
liberation of Siena. A certain Giovanni Maria Benedetti, a man of humble
birth in the service of the Cardinal de Tournon, and Amerigo Amerighi, a
member of the Balìa, were the connecting links between the Sienese, on
the one hand, and the agents of the Most Christian King and the
cardinals of the French faction, on the other. But so many persons,
Sienese and foreigners, were implicated that it was held a special
miracle of the Madonna's that the plot was not discovered long before
the time came to put it into effect.
Don Diego was absent from Siena, and a certain Don Franzese de Avila--a
very gracious young man who, alone of his nation, had ingratiated
himself with the Sienese by what Sozzini calls his young-lady-like
manners, _chè veramente era come una donzella_, ruled in his place;
when, on the evening of July 26th, 1552, a force of French and Italians,
led by Enea Piccolomini delle Papesse,[118] arrived at a little distance
from the Porta Romana. Some warning had reached the Spaniards and some
sort of preparation been made; but it was not until the following
morning that the alarm was shouted from the Mangia Tower. When evening
came, the people rose in mass, shouting for France and Liberty; the very
women hurled stones upon the heads of the Spaniards, as they sullenly
retreated towards San Domenico and the Citadel, leaving the Campo in the
charge of the Florentine soldiers that Duke Cosimo had sent to their
aid. Such was the flaming of the torches and the glow of lights in the
windows, that "through all the city one walked as though the sun had
risen." While the Sienese within threw open the Porta Tufi, the rest of
the French, led by Enea Piccolomini, fired the Porta Romana; "and they
entered into Siena with such great impetus and with such great noise,
that it was heard many miles away. All that night they fought together;
for the Spaniards, with the support of the Florentines, had fortified
themselves in San Domenico and in Camollia, having the Citadel at their
shoulders. This combat lasted all the night and till the twentieth hour
of the following day, which was Thursday the 28th of July; in which hour
those of the city, making every effort, captured San Domenico, where the
Spaniards thought themselves right strong and safe. And by reason of
this loss, the latter abandoned also that part of the city which they
held, and they all retreated to the fortress. In which retreat many
Spaniards and Florentines were killed; and so, by the grace of God, all
the city was free."[119]
Two Sienese, Giovanni Andrea Bonizzelli and Giovanni Battista Cappanna,
who had served the Spaniards as commissaries, attempted to escape from
the city; they were brutally done to death, the one by the contadini
into whose hands he had fallen, the other brought back as a prisoner to
be hurled out of a window of the Sala di Balìa. At the beginning of
August, at the intervention of the Duke of Florence, the Citadel
capitulated; the Spaniards and Florentines were allowed to march out
with their arms and baggage, and retire unmolested to Florence. The
young-lady-like _maestro di campo_, Don Franzese, shed tears when he
found Messer Ottavio Sozzini and a number of young Sienese gentlemen
waiting in the Prato di Camollia to bid him farewell. "You brave
Sienese," he said, "have made a most beautiful stroke; but for the
future be wise, for you have offended too great a man."
Lansac, the French representative, at once entered the Citadel and
summoned the Signoria. They came in procession with a banner of Our Lady
in front of them, with all the other magistrates and officials
following, crowned with garlands of olive, while all the clergy and a
multitude of people came after, with men bearing spades, pickaxes and
the like: "it seemed that each one was going to a wedding." In the name
of the Most Christian King, Lansac formally made over the Citadel to the
Republic--the notary of the Concistoro, Ser Luca Salvini, drawing up the
instrument in strict legal form. Let Sozzini, who was present, describe
the scene: "When the deed had been drawn up in valid form, the Captain
of the People first and then the most illustrious Signori, with
pickaxes and other instruments began to destroy the said Citadel; and
all the people shouted, with tears of joy in their eyes: 'Liberty,
Liberty!' 'France, France!' 'Victory, Victory!' Now whoso had seen the
great multitude of gentlemen and shopkeepers, who raced to come first to
the destruction of the Citadel, certainly would have been astounded;
seeing that, in the space of one hour, more was destroyed facing the
city than would have been built in four months. When the Signoria and
the procession departed to return to the Palace, many gentlemen and
shopkeepers remained to continue the destruction, and continually fresh
folk arrived there."[120]
Siena was now under the protection of France, with a French garrison.
The people were in a fever of delight. Sonnet after sonnet, abusing the
Spaniards and extolling the French, satirising the Catholic Majesty and
praising the Most Christian, appeared on the Loggia di Mercanzia. With
no thought or talk of war, the Sienese gave themselves up to sport and
pleasure. The Balìa was abolished, or rather combined with the
Concistoro in one chief magistracy composed of the Signoria and twenty
others elected by the Senate; the two councils (the General Council of
the Campana, or Senate, and the Council of the People) were reduced to
one; the Monti were nominally annulled, or united in one body of the
"Cittadini Reggenti della Città di Siena." In November the Cardinal of
Ferrara, Ippolito d'Este the younger, with a goodly guard of Swiss, came
as lieutenant of the King of France, received by the government with the
utmost honour, and welcomed by the people, says Malavolti, _con
incredibile allegrezza_. Hearing that the Emperor was massing troops in
the Kingdom of Naples to come against Siena, the Cardinal had new forts
built outside the Porta Camollia. The men of the contrade came to work
upon them, "always gladly to the sound of drums and trumpets," while one
of the Cardinal's guard played on the flute, so sweetly "that every one
stayed to listen to it as a thing most rare." But wiser folk shook their
heads, noticing that the forts were being designed in such a way that
they would serve equally to bombard the city, "from which thing many
took a right sinister impression."[121] And again the strange weird
figure of Brandano appeared, wandering up and down the streets, gazing
upon the new fortifications, singing in a quaint doggerel of his own:
"Little good, O Cardinal, may'st thou bring us! Siena, Siena, the
physician will come who will cure thee of thy madness."[122]
The first attempt of the powers of Spain and the Empire to avenge their
discomfiture failed signally. At the beginning of 1553, a great army of
Germans, Spaniards and Italians under Don Garcia de Toledo (the
brother-in-law of Duke Cosimo) invaded the dominion of the Republic,
occupied the Valdichiana, took Pienza, and captured Monticchiello after
a heroic defence in which the garrison of the little castle, commanded
by Adriano Baglioni, only surrendered when all the powder for the
arquebuses was spent and they were reduced to fighting with stones. In
the Maremma, Cornelio Bentivoglio sallied out of Grosseto and routed the
imperial reinforcements that had landed at Piombino from Sicily. In the
latter part of March the invading army laid siege to Montalcino, which
Giordano Orsini
[Illustration: VIA DEI TERMINI]
at the head of two thousand infantry defended for the Republic, with the
utmost valour and heroically supported by the inhabitants, for more than
two months. On the night of the 14th of June, the Sienese saw great
fires blazing round Montalcino, and on the morning of the 15th heavy
clouds of smoke still hung over it. The appearance of the French and
Turkish fleets off the shores of Italy had forced Don Garcia to raise
the siege; he had burned his lodgings, and was about to hurry southwards
for the defence of Naples. "Now," writes the diarist of Montalcino,
"whoso this morning had seen our afflicted city in such great gladness
and triumph, would have made the hardest heart grow tender. When the
bells had ceased ringing, Masses have been celebrated and there has been
a devout procession around the piazza, with such great contrition; all
injuries have been forgiven, men have gone to embrace one another and to
give the kiss of peace; always thanking God and the Most Holy Virgin,
our protectress, that in their pity and mercy they have deigned to
deliver us from so great a disaster."[123]
In the meanwhile, through the intrigues of Cosimo, who was only biding
his time for the Marzocco and the Lupa to be bound together in his
golden chain, a conspiracy had been formed in Siena, to admit the
Florentines through the Porta Ovile and expel the French. It was
discovered; the three principal conspirators, Giulio Salvi, Captain of
the People, his brother Ottaviano, Proposto of the Duomo, and the canon
Gismondo Vignali, were beheaded in the cortile of the Captain of
Justice--the two priests having been degraded in the Sala del Consiglio
on the previous day. But the Sienese factions continued, even in the
face of the imminent danger. The French agents themselves were divided,
Monsieur de Termes taking one side, the Cardinal of Ferrara the other.
"And always as many of them as were sent to us from the King, up to the
last, behaved in this fashion, as though the discords of the city of
Siena were like to a contagious illness, so that whoever came near them
was obliged to take part in them."[124]
The breathing space was but short. With the new year, 1554, the tempest
burst upon Siena. Piero Strozzi, the deadliest enemy of the Duke of
Florence, came to the city as vicar-general of the Most Christian
King--in spite of Orlando Malavolti, then one of the Eight of War, who
urged that he should not be received without an express order from
France, as it would give an excuse to the Duke to declare war, being a
breach of one of the conditions, which stipulated that the Sienese
should not shelter Florentine _fuorusciti_. In his history, Malavolti
remarks upon the analogies between this last war of Siena and that
ancient one of Montaperti, both begun by the Florentines on the pretext
that the Sienese had broken treaties by receiving their exiles; and he
declares bitterly that Strozzi, unlike Giordano, "had intentions quite
other than the defence and salvation of the city of Siena," that he had
sent away a number of the soldiers, and left unprotected the forts
outside Porta Camollia. Similarly, Sozzini declares that Piero's coming
was held to be the ruin of Siena, since it brought the Duke of Florence
into the field, without whom the Caesarian Majesty could have done them
little harm.[125] But these are mere words; Strozzi or no Strozzi,
Cosimo and Charles were equally bent upon the subjugation, complete and
final, of Siena.
The armies of the Emperor and the Duke of Florence entered the dominions
of the Republic, under the command of the last and most formidable of
the condottieri, Gian Giacomo de' Medici, Marchese di Marignano. The
sudden capture, on the night of January 26th, 1554, of the forts outside
the Porta Camollia began that last tremendous war of the Sienese, that
siege--no less heroic and more prolonged than that of Florence
twenty-four years before--in which the last great Republic of the Middle
Ages died a giant's death. The war lasted till the April of the
following year, both round the city and in the contado, and was most
ruthless in its character. For ten miles around, the once smiling
country became a desolate, fire-stained and blood-soaked wilderness--a
few trees being left standing, merely that the Spaniards might hang the
hapless contadini who attempted to bring supplies through their lines to
the starving people in the beleaguered city. The earlier engagements
mostly resulted in favour of the Sienese with their French allies and
German mercenaries. At first they had so many prisoners in their hands
that, when the Marchese di Marignano raised a gallows on the captured
forts, they raised another on the citadel, and threatened to hang ten of
their prisoners for every one that the imperialists executed--a threat
averted by the intervention of the Spanish soldiers themselves, who sent
a message to Strozzi that they would force their own general to act _a
buona guerra_; which, alas! was held only to apply to combatants, and
not always even to them.
At the beginning of June the Cardinal of Ferrara, tardily obeying the
summons of the King, left the city, and went home with a safe conduct;
French and Swiss reinforcements arrived under the command of Blaise de
Montluc, afterwards Marshal of France, who came to take charge of the
city that Strozzi might have a free hand elsewhere. There had been some
question as to the safety of sending this dashing Gascon to Siena; his
enemies assured the king that he was (to use his own phrase) _un des
plus coleres hommes du monde, et le plus bisarre_, and that, "considered
the humours of the Sienese, it would be fire against fire." As it turned
out, his dauntless heroism, his never failing high spirits (even when
he lay at the point of death), his amazing harangues (for he prided
himself upon his Italian, and had got up some Sienese history to serve
his need), chimed in precisely with the temper of the people, and the
name of the gallant Gascon general is ever to be linked with that of the
glorious Italian republic, whose liberties he was to defend. The third
book of his _Commentaires_, taken with the _Diario_ of Alessandro
Sozzini, lets us follow every phase of the siege. He found, he tells us,
that "the Sienese were stark mad of fighting, and I do believe, fighting
for their liberty, would have played the devils." The heroic devotion of
the ladies of the city--to whose prayers he professed to owe his
recovery from sickness--especially moved his enthusiasm:--
"It shall never be, you Ladies of Siena, that I will not immortalise
your names so long as the Book of Montluc shall live; for in truth you
are worthy of immortal praise, if ever women were. At the beginning of
the noble resolution these people took to defend their liberty, all the
ladies of Siena divided themselves into three squadrons; the first led
by Signora Forteguerra, who was herself clad in violet, as also those of
her train, her attire being cut in the fashion of a Nymph, short, and
discovering her buskins; the second was the Signora Piccolomini, attired
in carnation satin, and her troop in the same livery; the third was the
Signora Livia Fausta, apparelled all in white, as also her train, with
her white ensign. In their ensigns they had very fine devices, which I
would give a good deal I could remember. These three squadrons consisted
of three thousand ladies, gentlewomen and citizens; their arms were
picks, shovels, baskets and bavins; and in this equipage they made their
muster, and went to begin the fortifications. Monsieur de Termes, who
has often told me this story (for I was not then arrived at Siena), has
assured me that in his life he never saw so fine a sight. I have since
seen their ensigns, and they had composed a song to the honour of
France, for which I wish I had given the best horse I have that I might
insert it here."[126]
This first comparatively bright and hopeful phase of the struggle ended
with the summer. Piero Strozzi with the flower of the French army
retreated from the city, hoping to make a diversion, to unite with
reinforcements that he expected, to carry the war into Florentine
territory. At the beginning of August he came to a pitched battle with
Marignano's forces, on the hills of Scannagalli near Marciano in the
Valdichiana. Over his army, together with the golden lilies of France,
there floated a green banner with the Dantesque text: _Libertà vo
cercando_, "I go seeking Liberty." Under a blazing sun, Swiss and
Frenchmen, Spaniards, Germans and Italians, dashed together in a
terrible melée; but the victory on the part of Spain and the Empire was
complete and crushing. Four thousand men of Strozzi's army are said to
have been killed. The hospitals of Siena were filled to overflowing with
the wounded, who made their way in from the scene of disaster; while the
rest limped slowly along the streets or lay about in the squares,
utterly broken in spirit, wailing for aid. No one who beheld this
piteous spectacle, says Sozzini, "could have possibly kept back his
tears, even if he had had a heart of hardest stone." It was said that
the defeat had been caused by the treachery of a French ancient--though
Montluc will not assert this--and Strozzi, while he lay helpless with
his wounds at Montalcino, got the man into his hands, extorted a
confession by torture, and executed him together with one of his own
officers to whom he ascribed his overthrow.
The doom of Siena was now sealed. The imperialists drew their lines
closer and closer round the city, while the heroism of Montluc and of
the Sienese themselves prolonged the resistance for eight months. There
were the usual attempts to storm Heaven on behalf of the Republic. The
"Madonna delle Grazie" was carried through the city preceded by three
hundred little girls, white-robed and barefooted, crying: _Christe audi
nos!_ And then procession was made with the wooden Crucifix of the
Duomo, said to have been that carried by the victors of Montaperti, with
all the children of the Spedale and a thousand young maidens of the city
walking in front, followed by the Disciplinati of Our Lady, all the
friars and clergy, and, after the Crucifix, a great multitude of men and
women. Then it was decreed that the "useless mouths," _le bocche
disutili_, should be expelled from the city; and these sweet voices of
the children grew silent. Four officials specially appointed, the
_Quattro sopra le bocche disutili_, on September 22nd at nightfall,
drove out more than a thousand men, women and children, weeping with
sorrow and terror. Then Piero Strozzi, who had temporarily returned to
Siena with the Archbishop and others, bade the Rector of the Spedale
expel 700 more, in order that the soldiers might make use of the supply
of grain that the Spedale possessed, an escort being promised to guard
them out of danger. On October 5th, 250 little children, from six to ten
years old, mostly in litters, with a number of men and women, passed out
of the Porta Fontebranda, escorted by four companies of soldiers. They
fell into an ambuscade, a number of them were slaughtered and the rest
driven back towards the city. "And next morning they were all outside
Porta Fontebranda (at the place where the annual market of the pigs is
held), all lying on the ground with the greatest cries and lamentations.
It was the most pitiful sight to see these little despoiled children,
wounded and beaten, lying on the ground, and would
[Illustration: PORTA OVILE]
have made a Nero weep. And I would have payed twenty-five scudi not to
have seen them; for, for three days, I could neither eat nor drink
anything that did me good."[127] The Rector of the Spedale resigned his
post, rather than be a party to any further cruelty of this kind. A few
weeks later, a number of the elder children, from ten to fifteen years
old, were sent out openly in the daytime without any escort, under the
impression that the enemy would let them pass. They went out by the
Porta Pispini, _tutti piangendo_, and came back at midday, stripped to
their shirts, "and returning to the Spedale two and two, as in
procession, they moved the folk to such compassion that many wept."[128]
Presently they were reduced to wandering through the city, knocking at
the doors of those who had been wealthy, begging for a morsel of bread.
But all this was mercy itself, compared to the fate of the _bocche
disutili_ later, and compared to what was done elsewhere. At Turrita, in
the contado, a band of Germans in the Florentine pay crucified an old
woman, under circumstances of appalling atrocity, for cursing the Duke
of Florence and for crying _Lupa, Lupa_, when they bade her shout
_Duca_.
Piero Strozzi now left Siena to its fate, in a vain hope of collecting
reinforcements elsewhere. The Archbishop Francesco Bandini, Enea
Piccolomini and others broke through the Spanish lines, and escaped to
Montalcino. Montluc was made Dictator. Too long would it take to tell
here in full detail the whole story of protracted heroism; the incessant
bombardment; the assaults repulsed time after time; the gallant sallies
of the besieged; the games that they still played at intervals in the
Campo--interrupted by the sudden call to arms--at one of which, a
vigorous _giuoco delle pugna_, Montluc wept for mingled joy and pity at
their valour. The ladies of Siena--now laying aside the sportive spirit
and gay dresses in which they had at first worked--laboured again on the
fortifications, and in destroying the buildings, where these encumbered
the movements of the soldiers; especially at the Porta Ovile, which had
become the most dangerous place in the city, since the Marchese had
planted artillery upon the hill between it and the Osservanza. At last
the brave German mercenaries of France grew impatient at the lack of
bread and wine, and Montluc sent them out of the city, to join the
flying army that Strozzi was supposed to be raising. Once more all the
_bocche disutili_ were expelled--but this time there was no mercy shown
them by friend or foe.
"The list of these useless mouths," writes Montluc, "I do assure you
amounted to four thousand and four hundred people, or more, which of all
the miseries and desolations that I have ever seen was the greatest my
eyes ever yet beheld, or that I believe I shall ever see again; for the
master was thereby necessitated to part with his servant, who had served
him long, the mistress with her maid, besides an infinite number of poor
people, who only lived by the sweat of their brows; which weeping and
desolation continued for three days together; and these poor wretches
were to go through the Enemy, who still beat them back again towards the
City, the whole camp continuing night and day in arms to that only end;
so that they drove them up to the very foot of the walls, that they
might the sooner consume the little bread we had left, and to see if the
City out of compassion to those miserable creatures would revolt. But
that prevailed nothing, though they lay eight days in this condition,
where they had nothing to eat but herbs and grass, and above the one
half of them perished, for the Enemy killed them, and very few escaped
away. There were a great many maids and handsome women, indeed, who
found means to escape, the Spaniards by night stealing them into their
quarters, for their own provision; but it was unknown to the Marquis,
for it had otherwise been death; and some strong and vigorous men also
forced their way, and escaped by night. But all those did not amount to
the fourth part, and all the rest miserably perished."
Even more horrible is the description given by Scipione Bargagli of the
fate of these hapless victims, inclosed between the walls of their
countrymen and the trenches of the foe, their bodies devoured by the
birds and starving dogs, who frequently returned to the city with the
skulls or bones.[129]
Treachery failed to induce a surrender, but the agony of the city had
become unendurable. When March came, there was not a drop of wine left
in Siena; all the horses but two, all the mules and asses and rats, had
been eaten; it was necessary to make costly sallies in order that the
women and children might pick grass and herbs outside the walls. The
ladies could no longer be recognised by their features. People fell dead
in the streets, and the trenches were brought up to the very gates. But
the imperial army had begun to suffer too, and there was nothing on the
ground for the horses to eat, from Montalcino to Siena and from Siena to
Florence.
An appeal to the Pope failed. Although Julius III. was Sienese on his
mother's side, he coldly recommended an unconditional surrender to the
Caesarian Majesty. Once more the city was solemnly offered up to the
Madonna; there were wild, useless appeals to Venice and the Duke of
Ferrara to interpose. Then, no help being forthcoming from heaven or
earth, the starving Sienese capitulated to the Emperor through the Duke
of Florence, in April 1555. On April 21st the French marched out of the
Porta Romana, Montluc receiving a well-deserved ovation from the enemy.
With them went a number of Florentine exiles and others, "exiles and
rebels to the State of the Emperor, the King of England (who was King
Philip) and the Duke of Florence"; for Montluc had insisted upon a
clause in their favour being inserted into the capitulation, and the
Marchese di Marignano himself had no desire of glutting the Medicean
headsman with more blood. With them went a number of Sienese headed by
Mario Bandini (the last Captain of the People in free Siena), Fabio
Spannocchi, who was one of the Priors, and Giulio Vieri, one of the
three Gonfalonieri. These were about 800 in all, men, women and
children; the old women and some of the children went on carriage mules,
which Marignano had provided at Montluc's request, the rest tramping
wearily on foot. The Spaniards had some pity, and succoured them with
food on the way. "I had seen a sad parting," writes Montluc, "at the
turning out the useless mouths; but I saw as sad a one at the separation
of those who went out with us and those who remained behind. In my life
I never saw so sad a farewell; so that although our soldiers had in
their own persons suffered to the last extremes, yet did they infinitely
regret this woful parting, and that they had not the power to defend the
liberty of these people, and I more than all the rest, who could not
without tears behold this misery and desolation of a people, who had
manifested themselves so devout for the conservation of their liberty
and honour."
Then, suddenly, all the bells of the churches and towers began to ring.
The imperialists--Spaniards, Italians, Germans--marched in by the same
gate. They entered quietly and in an orderly fashion, but made a great
shouting and uproar when they reached the Campo. Surrounded by a
splendidly equipped guard of German halberdiers, the Marchese di
Marignano rode to the Duomo and had the Mass of the Holy Spirit solemnly
sung. But the choristers broke down in sobs and tears, and the
lamentations of the people drowned the music. Vast supplies of
provisions, brought from Florence, appeared in the Campo; white bread
and wine, grain, fresh and salt meat, and eggs. The starving Sienese,
rushing to buy, instantly swept the piazza clear of these provisions,
like the advent of a sudden whirlwind.
For some while the ultimate fate of the once mighty Republic hung in
doubt. Cosimo had conquered as the lieutenant of the Emperor, and the
latter first invested his own son, Philip II. of Spain, with Siena and
its dominion as a vacant fief of the Empire. Philip ruled it for two
years by means of the tyrannical Cardinal of Burgos, who, in defiance of
the articles of the capitulation, began to build a fortress and filled
the prisons with suspected persons. There was even some talk of ceding
the Sienese State to Pope Paul IV., that he might invest his nephews,
the Caraffa, with it. But at length Cosimo de' Medici had his will, and
in July 1557, he obtained from Philip the investiture of Siena, its city
and dominion, to be held as a fief from the King of Spain. But the
Spanish monarch reserved to himself the seaboard of the late
Republic--including Talamone, Orbetello, Port' Ercole and Porto Santo
Stefano--which henceforth, until the eighteenth century, formed what
were known as the Spanish Praesidia.[130]
But Montalcino still held out under French protection. Mario Bandini had
carried off the public seals; and, although he sent these back after he
had copied them, the Sienese in Montalcino, declaring that _ubi cives,
ibi patria_, still represented the old Republic of Siena, coined money,
and for some time kept a large portion of the Sienese State in obedience
to them and France. Mario Bandini died there in 1558; that other hero of
the last days of the Republic, Enea Piccolomini, had died a month before
the capitulation of Siena itself. At length, the treaty of Câteau
Cambresis, which decided the fate of Italy, decided the destinies of
Montalcino as well. The heroic little Republic sent two ambassadors to
Cambresis, Bernardino Buoninsegni and Annibale Buonsignori, pleading
either for liberty or for the rule of France. That failing, they
capitulated in August 1559, to Spain and Cosimo upon honourable terms,
and the Republic of Siena was a thing of the past.
[Illustration: _Remains of a Mural Tower_]
In 1561 Cosimo, Duke of Florence and Siena (he did not become Grand Duke
until 1570), made his triumphant entry into Siena. Henceforth he ruled
the city by means of a lieutenant-general and a Balìa appointed by
himself; the other forms of republican government were preserved, as the
Duke was anxious to attract back to Siena those whom Spanish brutality
had driven away, but with hardly the shadow of any political authority.
The great grand-ducal citadel of Santa Barbara, now that most pleasant
of lounging-places at sunset, tells its own story.
Deprived of liberty and independence, without even the showy
compensation of the presence of a Court, Siena became a kind of
glorified provincial city. The energies of nobles and people alike
manifested themselves in the numerous academies for which the Sienese
were always famous, in the wild sports of the contrade, in the social
and literary gatherings, _veglie_ and _trattenimenti_, which became
proverbial throughout Italy.
For the rest, Siena followed the fortunes of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany,
and shared in the great national awakening of Italy that our own days
have seen.
CHAPTER IX
_Through the City of the Virgin_
At the famous Croce del Travaglio, where the Bohemian Caesar learned to
respect the might of a free people and Giovanni Martinozzi routed the
hireling soldiery of the last of the Petrucci, the three chief streets
of Siena lead off into the three Terzi: the Via Cavour into the Terzo di
Camollia, the Via Ricasoli into the Terzo di San Martino, the Via di
Città into the Terzo di Città.
"In every good city," so runs a report of a commission of the Council of
the People in 1398, "provision is made for the adornment and improvement
of the city. And you have this your piazza of the Campo which is the
most beautiful that exists, and you _had_ that ornament of the Strada
de' Banchi which began at the piazza of the Tolomei and came down as far
as Porta Salaia, such that, neither in Venice nor in Florence nor in any
other town in this country, was there a more beautiful street. Now it is
spoilt; for shoemakers and tailors have returned to it, and it is
spoilt. Let therefore our Signori choose four citizens, who shall have
to embellish it, so that the bankers shall be together in one part of
it, the drapers and goldsmiths in another, the furriers and armourers in
another, and that within these limits no other trades can be exercised
save those that shall be ordained by these four."[131] During the
fifteenth century, there was a regular magistracy of three citizens
elected annually to have the full authority of the General Council in
all matters pertaining to the adorning of the city; they were called the
_Ufficiali sopra l'ornato_, and were even empowered to force people to
sell houses and sites, when these, from jealousy or other motives, were
preventing wealthy citizens from building goodly palaces, _bellissimi
casamenti_--"the which thing causes shame and damage to the city."[132]
The street referred to in the above document now includes the first
sections of the Via Cavour and Via di Città, and is the most animated
part of Siena. Turning up the Via di Città, we have on our left the
Loggia di Mercanzia, the meeting-place of the merchants of the Republic,
the centre of the commercial life of the city in the fifteenth century,
which afterwards became the Casino de' Nobili. It was designed by Sano
di Matteo in 1416, and mainly executed about 1438 by Pietro del Minella,
in a style (like that of the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence) intermediate
between Gothic and Renaissance. Of the saints on the façade, St Peter
and St Paul are by Vecchietta, Victor, Ansanus and Savinus by Antonio
Federighi; the two marble seats, to right and left, are by Federighi and
Il Marrina respectively. On the right, past the meeting-place of the
Accademia de' Rozzi (an institution dating from the early part of the
Cinquecento), under a kind of colonnade begin the curious Via dei
Beccari, the street of the butchers, with the oxhead of their guild
prominently displayed (becoming presently the most picturesque of
Siena's old streets, the Via della Galluzza), and the long Via
Fontebranda. Then, on the left, the Costa dei Barbieri leads down into
the Campo; here in old times was the Porta Salaia, the name of which is
still preserved in the Vicolo di Macta Salaia, a little further on.
Guarding the Costa is a fine old tower, called of the "Sette
Seghinelle," with various armorial bearings; opposite it, on the right
side of the Via di Città, the Podestà lived, before the building of the
present Palazzo Comunale.
Opposite the Costa, the Via dei Pellegrini leads off to the Baptistery.
On the right is the Palazzo Bindi Sergardi, with ceiling frescoes by
Beccafumi, which were greatly admired in their day, and gained for him
the commission to decorate similarly the Sala di Concistoro. On the
left, at the foot of the Baptistery, is the famous Palace of the
Magnifico, built for Pandolfo Petrucci in the early years of the
Cinquecento from the design of Giacomo Cozzarelli, who also cast the
splendid metal work on the exterior. The arms of the Petrucci are still
to be seen under what was the chief entrance, but the lower part of the
palace is very squalid now. Of the frescoes that Luca Signorelli,
Girolamo Genga and Bernardino Pinturicchio painted for the Magnifico,
there now remains nothing but a few fragments in one room, doubtfully
ascribed to the last-named master. Hardly can we now conjure up in
imagination the days when Machiavelli, coming here as ambassador of the
Signoria of Florence, found Pandolfo after dinner surrounded by the
chief men of his faction, whom he had invited to talk over the matter,
or when Borghese gathered together all the loveliest women of Siena at a
banquet to do honour to the younger Lorenzo de' Medici.
From the Costa de' Barbieri, the Via di Città leads up into the very
heart of old Siena--the Castello Vecchio. On the left is the Palazzo
Saracini, a Gothic palace of the thirteenth century completely restored,
which came into the possession of the Saracini--whose Saracen's head and
eagle adorn the façade--at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In
the olden days it was the Palazzo Marescotti, and the tower that we see,
if not in
[Illustration: PALAZZO SARACINI]
all respects the same, undoubtedly stands upon the site of the one from
which Cerreto Ceccolini announced the varying fortunes of the battle of
Montaperti. In the courtyard is a statue of Pope Julius III.
(1550-1555), Giovanni Maria del Monte, whose mother belonged to the
house of the Saracini. The palace contains a large collection of
pictures in a long series of rooms. A few only are of importance. Here
are several pictures by Beccafumi, conspicuous among which is a large
altarpiece, curiously imitating the style of Fra Bartolommeo's stately
creations in this kind and representing the Sposalizio of St Catherine
of Siena, in the presence of St Peter and St Paul and other Saints. It
was originally in Santo Spirito. "This work," says Vasari, "which was
executed with much judgment and design, gained for him great honour."
Here is also what is said to be the first sketch of Beccafumi's Nativity
in San Martino. There are two characteristic Madonnas by Neroccio di
Bartolommeo Landi. Andrea del Brescianino is represented by a Holy
Family, two exceedingly beautiful _tondi_ very much above his usual
level, and a small painted shrine. An attractive Florentine portrait of
a golden-haired girl in a red dress, with the attributes of St Catherine
of Alexandria, shown as a Botticelli, is ascribed by Mr Berenson to
Sebastiano Mainardi, the painter of San Gimignano. The earlier works by
Giovanni di Paolo, Sassetta and others, are mostly unimportant. There is
an excellent modern picture by Amos Cassioli representing the visit of
Galeazzo Maria Sforza to Lorenzo de' Medici in 1471. In one of the rooms
of the palace there is a small Madonna, much repainted, by Sano di
Pietro.
On the right is the Palazzo Piccolomini "delle Papesse," adorned with
the arms of the Piccolomini and now occupied by the Banca d'Italia,
begun in 1460 by the sister of Pope Pius II., Caterina Piccolomini, who
in the October of that year petitioned the Signoria for exemption from
the Gabella for the various stones and marbles required, on the grounds
that "the said Madonna Caterina intends and wishes to make the said
house in the most noble fashion and with great cost, to the honour of
this magnificent city and of your Magnificences and lofty
Lordships."[133] In style it shows a peculiar harmonising of the Sienese
Gothic with the domestic architecture of the Florentine Quattrocento.
The façade is an effective combination of a rusticated basement with
smooth grey stone above. The original designer was probably Bernardino
Rossellino, the Florentine master whom Pius was employing at Pienza, the
actual architects Antonio Federighi and Urbano da Cortona. The work was
interrupted in 1472, owing to Madonna Caterina's lack of means, and
finished in 1595 by the Archbishop Ascanio Piccolomini. In the days of
this latter genial prelate the palace was a great centre for social
gatherings, "to hearken to gracious discussions, judicious discourses,
and also disputations touching every noble matter."[134]
Beyond the Palazzo delle Papesse is the Palazzo Marsili, a Gothic
edifice in red brick--one of the oldest in Siena, but practically
rebuilt by Luca di Bartolo in the middle of the fifteenth century.
Between these two, the Via del Castoro leads up through the abandoned
façade into the Piazza del Duomo. In the days when it was proposed to
build the new Cathedral, the Palazzo delle Papesse naturally did not
exist, and in its place there would have been a piazza with the chief
approach to the Duomo. At the end of the Via di Città is the grey
tower, half stone and half brick, of the Forteguerri de' Grandi, one of
the oldest noble families of Siena, which was originally connected by a
bridge with the palace opposite, which was also of the Forteguerri
(later one of the numerous palaces of the Piccolomini). It was here that
Niccolò Borghesi was murdered in June, 1500. He was returning from Mass
at the Duomo with several armed servants--for he had been warned that
Pandolfo was meditating violence--and passing down the Via del Capitano,
when Pandolfo's emissaries set upon him, killed his servants on the
spot, and left him with just enough life to crawl to the foot of the
tower, where he was taken into the house of Giovanni Borghesi, to die
with that harmonious blending of the devout Christian and the Stoic
philosopher that had characterised him throughout.
The Via di Città ends in the Piazza di Postierla, whence the Via del
Capitano, Via Stalloreggi, and Via di San Pietro diverge. There is a
"Lupa" of the Quattrocento in the square, with a banner-holder in the
fine metal-work of the same epoch. In the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries the Postierla was a favourite resort of the Sienese nobility,
one of the most fashionable places in the city. During the siege, the
four ladies of Scipione Bargagli's _Trattenimenti_--Clarice, Celia,
Olinda and Clizia--met in Clarice's house, which was one of those with
windows that looked out upon the Postierla. They were "all certainly as
young and pleasing, as they were clever and honest"; and, it being the
Sunday of the Carnival, they resolved, in spite of the cruel enemies of
the Republic, to keep the three days of the Carnival, as Clarice
suggested, "with some form of pleasant and gentle conversation,
according to what will be most agreeable to us all." But men were needed
to make the plan a success. "Indeed," said Celia, "our delight, however
great, would not have its savour unless the presence, at once grave and
sweet, of a man brought its condiment to it." And at that moment there
appeared five young men of the city, coming up the street, of course as
wise and admirable as they were rich and noble. "In these ardent youths,
neither hardships nor loss of means, nor of parents or friends, nor the
danger that hung over themselves, had ever been able to cool, much less
quench, that quick amorous fire wherewith they, without any fuel, bore
their breasts inflamed." At this sudden apparition the ladies gave
devout thanks to Heaven in their hearts, and the _bella ragunanza_ was
complete.
On the right of the Postierla is the handsome palace built by the Chigi
in the latter part of the Cinquecento. In the Via del Capitano, on the
left, is the palace where the Capitano della Guerra or Senatore resided,
during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.[135] Under its
battlements runs a series of coats of arms of these captains or
senators, among which the student of Dante will recognise the Lion of
the Ordelaffi and the Column of the Colonna. The palace has been
completely restored. The cortile, with a staircase guarded by the Lion
of the People, somewhat resembles--on a smaller scale--the Palazzo del
Podestà at Florence. The palace (which now belongs to the Count
Piccolomini della Triana, as the arms on the shield which the Lion holds
indicate) was sold by the Republic in the fifteenth century to Tommaso
Pecci, one of the leaders of the Noveschi. In his days it was a centre
of gay courtly life, and when distinguished visitors, especially those
of the gentle sex, passed through Siena, they were usually entertained
by the Republic in this palace. That noblest of ladies of the
Renaissance, Eleonora of Aragon (the sister of Duke Alfonso of
Calabria), on her way to Ferrara to become the wife of
[Illustration: THE TOWER OF SANT' ANSANO]
Ercole d'Este, stayed here for four days in June 1473. On Sunday, writes
Allegretto, "the Commune of Siena, or rather the Signoria, arranged a
most beauteous dance before the house of Tommaso Pecci in the street,
and all the fair ladies and girls of Siena were invited. And my wife
either lost there or had stolen from her a goodly knife, ornamented in
silver, which cost me eighteen lire the pair. And in the street there
was arranged a great vat of forty measures, divided in half, and a
column in the middle upon which were a lion and a wolf, so that the lion
threw white wine on one side of the vat and the wolf threw red wine on
the other side, and a fountain in the midst between the lion and the
wolf threw water. And in the vat stood always silver cups, in order that
every one could drink. At the Loggia of the Officers of the Mercanzia,
ninety-eight couples of ladies assembled and went to the dance in order,
accompanied by as many youths, and in front of the house they danced
until nightfall, when there was made a rich and fine collation of all
kinds of confectionery."[136]
Opposite the Palazzo del Capitano, at the corner of the street and the
Piazza del Duomo, is the Palazzo Reale, which Bernardo Buontalenti built
at the end of the sixteenth century for the Medicean Grand Dukes of
Tuscany. In part, it occupies the site of the palace of Giacoppo
Petrucci in which his cruel and tyrannical son, the Cardinal Raffaello,
resided. Raffaello left it to his nephew, Anton Maria Petrucci. It was
here that the Emperor was lodged in 1536; from here Granvelle and
Sfondrato made their "buonissima riforma" of the State, and afterwards
the Cardinal Ippolito d'Este with his guard of Switzers.
In the Via di San Pietro is the great red brick Palazzo Buonsignori,
with a richly ornamented façade, one of the finest private palaces in
Siena in the Gothic style. It was originally built in the fourteenth
century, but has a fine court and stairway of the Quattrocento. Between
it and the steps to the church is a small Gothic palace of the
thirteenth century (completely restored), known as the _Casa della Pia_.
This was the house of Count Nello de' Pannocchieschi, whose fair fame
(in spite of painters and novelists) recent research has cleared from
the imputation of his having been the husband--and therefore the
murderer--of La Pia, that hapless lady whom Siena made and Maremma
unmade, whom the divine poet met among the dim shades of those who died
a violent death.[137] San Pietro alle Scale, the parish church of San
Pietro in Castelvecchio, is a structure of the thirteenth century, with
a modernised façade and interior. There are two small _tondi_ by Sano di
Pietro, representing the Archangel Gabriel and Santa Lucia, in the
sacristy. The picture over the high altar, the Repose on the Flight into
Egypt with a handsome swarthy Madonna, is a decidedly meritorious work
by Rutilio Manetti. At the end of the Via di San Pietro the Porta
dell'Arco leads out beyond the older circuit of walls which represented
the limits of the city proper, until the Nine inclosed the suburb in the
still standing walls of the fourteenth century.
The Via Stalloreggi is the continuation of the Via di Città as the Via
di San Pietro is of the Via del Capitano. Inclosed by the two, bounded
outside by the Via delle Cerchia and the Via Baldassare Peruzzi, is the
oldest part of the city. At the corner of the Via di Castelvecchio in
the Via Stalloreggi, at a house once belonging to one of the Marescotti,
is a fresco by Bazzi, "where a dead Christ, who is in the lap of His
Mother, hath a marvellous grace and divinity."[138] The Via di
Castelvecchio intersects this oldest part of Siena. It is a tall, narrow
winding street, in parts squalid, but with here and
[Illustration: POZZO DELLA DIANA]
there a sudden glimpse of a rose garden, or a fig tree in a little
cortile bending its branches over the way. In the less picturesque Via
San Quirico is the church of San Quirico, perhaps the oldest in Siena,
but now modernised. By the side of it, an irritating piece of wall cuts
off what should be a superb view of the Duomo. In the same street are
the remains of the little church of Sant' Ansano in Castelvecchio, which
was possibly the first baptistery of Siena and of which there is
documentary evidence as far back as the year 881.[139] Near it stands an
old tower, the Rocchetta, which is probably the only remnant of the
first castle and certainly the most venerable piece of masonry left in
Siena; according to the legend, it was here that St Ansanus himself was
imprisoned by the Roman governor before his martyrdom. In the Via delle
Murelle (now Via Tommaso Pendola) is the chapel of the Contrada della
Tartuca. This part of Siena is rich in charitable institutions. On
either side of the street is a great institute for the Deaf and Dumb,
and in the refectory of an old convent of the Poor Clares (now the
female side of the Institute) the Sisters of Charity show you a
beautiful fresco of the Last Supper with scenes from the Passion above.
It appears to be the work of some Sienese master of the latter part of
the Quattrocento, who had, perhaps, seen Andrea del Castagno's rendering
of the same theme in Santa Appollonia at Florence. The last house in the
Via Stalloreggi, on the left, is the one in which Duccio painted his
glorious masterpiece, and it was hither that the procession came, to
take it in triumph to its place beneath the cupola of the Duomo. Then we
pass out of the old city, under the Arco delle due Porte, into the
Piazza del Carmine, now a part of the Via Baldassare Peruzzi.
The present church and convent of Santa Maria del Carmine were built
early in the sixteenth century, possibly from Peruzzi's designs; the
cloisters are particularly graceful. The convent itself is of very
ancient origin, and in the further cloister is the famous Pozzo della
Diana--which, however, may possibly have no connection, save by name,
with Dante's cut at the vain hopes and foolish expenditure of the
Sienese.[140] The church contains some good pictures: the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin by Bazzi; the Ascension of Christ by Pacchiarotti;
the Adoration of the Shepherds, begun by Il Riccio and finished by
Arcangiolo Salimbeni. But finer than any of these is Beccafumi's St
Michael casting down the rebellious Angels, over the altar opposite the
chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, a work of much beauty and great
imaginative power, enthusiastically--but hardly excessively--praised by
Vasari. Baldassare Peruzzi, Messer Giorgio tells us, was never tired of
praising it; "and one day that I saw it with him, uncovered, as I was
passing through Siena, I was struck dumb with admiration." The sacristy
contains a statue of St Sigismund, ascribed to Giacomo Cozzarelli. The
Palazzo Celsi opposite is ascribed to Peruzzi and contains three ceiling
paintings attributed to him, ruined by repainting.
From the Via Baldassare Peruzzi, the Via della Diana and the Via di San
Marco lead to the most picturesquely placed of Sienese gates--the Porta
San Marco, outside which is a pleasant and shady piazzale with a view
over the sweeping country to the distant hills, the Monastery of Sant'
Eugenio standing out conspicuously on its eminence in the foreground.
The picturesque Via delle Sperandie leads to the same gate, past a large
abandoned convent--the cloisters of which have been deserted even by
the
[Illustration: VIA DELLE SPERANDIE]
soldiers, a frescoed Crucifixion alone remaining to show that it was
once a religious place.
The Via delle Cerchia, skirting the older circuit of walls, brings us to
the piazza and church of Sant' Agostino, an ancient edifice completely
modernised in the eighteenth century. Over the second altar on the right
is the Crucifixion, a late work by Perugino, with a number of saints and
the Madonna at the foot of the Cross; the group of St Augustine
kneeling, with St Monica standing behind him, is finely conceived. The
chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is the chapel of the Piccolomini; the
decorations of the altar were undertaken by the Archbishop Ascanio
Piccolomini in 1596, "for the worship of God Almighty and the honour of
his own family." The altarpiece, Bazzi's Adoration of the Magi, in spite
of the blackening of the shadows and the overcrowding of the figures, is
an exceedingly fine work, thoroughly Lombard in composition and feeling,
the beautiful young King on the right curiously recalling Luini's types;
"there is," says Vasari, "a head of a shepherd between two trees, which
seems verily alive," and which is said to be the painter's own portrait.
The picture was painted for two of the Arduini family, and the name and
arms of the Archbishop Ascanio are obviously a later addition. On the
left is a marble statue of Pius II. by Duprè, and on the right the
Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni. This latter picture
shows sufficient dramatic energy and sense of beauty to make us wish
that these were displayed upon a less horrible subject. The groups of
unconcerned children and the classical bas-reliefs remind us of Matteo's
admirable work upon the pavement of the Duomo, but the king and soldiers
are mere hideous caricatures. In the choir is a picture in three
divisions--a work in which Mr Berenson calls attention to the
"extraordinary grace of motion and beauty of line"--by Simone Martini,
representing the blessed Agostino Novello (a courtier of King Manfred,
who became a hermit) and four scenes of his miracles. The later Sienese
school is fairly well represented by a Way to Calvary by Ventura
Salimbeni, and a curious picture (on the last altar to the left of the
choir) by Rutilio Manetti, representing the Temptation of St Antony.
Beyond Sant' Agostino is the Porta Tufi, so often mentioned in the story
of Siena, outside which, on the site of the present Cimitero della
Misericordia, was the famous convent of the Olivetani where Bernardo
Tolomei died.
From the piazza, the Via Sant' Agata leads down to the church of San
Giuseppe, where, under a picturesque arch, we re-enter the older circle
of walls by the Via Giovanni Duprè, in which the house is shown where
Siena's great modern sculptor was born.
Perhaps the most characteristic street of the Terzo di Città is the Via
del Casato, or more simply the Casato, which, running a winding course,
joins the Via di San Pietro with the Campo. This was once the most
aristocratic street in Siena, where the nobles and wealthy Noveschi
surrounded themselves with armed retainers and gave those sumptuous
entertainments that were a feature in the social life of the "soft"
city. There are still old palaces on either side; steep vicoli wind and
radiate off from it, with sudden glimpses beyond of distant hills and
towers. Where the present Palazzo Ugurghieri stands, and down the steep
vicoli on either side, was once the palatial castle of the proud old
house of the Ugurghieri, who, Lombard or Frank in origin, were descended
from the Counts who in the ninth and tenth centuries governed Siena.
Crossing the Campo, we enter the Terzo di San Martino at the Porrione,
as the opening of the Via San Martino was called--a point of strategical
importance in
[Illustration: _Via della Fonte_]
the furious factions of mediaeval Siena. At the corner of the Via
Rinaldini (originally the Chiasso Largo, the street of the silk
merchants) is the superb grey Palazzo Todeschini Piccolomini, the
Palazzo de' Papeschi, as it was called, now the Palazzo del Governo,
adorned with the arms of the Piccolomini and the Todeschini. It was
built for the nephews of Pius II., the sons of Nanni Todeschini, by the
Sienese architect, Pietro Paolo Porrini called Il Porrina, and begun in
1469; the _Ufficiali sopra l'Ornato_, on October 28th of that year,
reporting to the Signoria that "the Palace begun by the Respectability
of Messer Giacomo and Messer Andrea Piccolomini, will be a marvellous
work and a most worthy ornament in your city, according to the intention
and design of their Respectability."[141] The stone work, within and
without, was for the most part carved by Lorenzo di Mariano. This palace
now contains the Archivio di Stato of Siena; to do justice to its
multifold interest, a book would be required larger than the present
volume. In the Sala della Mostra a number of documents of all kinds are
exhibited, illustrating Sienese life and politics from the year 736
downwards, including a whole series of Imperial diplomas from Louis the
Pius in 813 to Charles V. in 1536. Here we may read, on the very
parchment on which they were written, the letter from the Commune of
Florence to that of Siena concerning the massacre of Cesena; the bull of
Pius II., with a postscript in his own hand, exhorting the Sienese to
admit the nobles to the government; Giovanni Torriani, general of the
Dominicans, announcing his intention of sending Frate Girolamo
Savonarola to Siena to reform the convent of Santo Spirito; or Cesare
Borgia's ferocious threats of destruction from Pienza.[142] There are
special series of autographs of famous ladies and of soldiers of
fortune, as also of artistic documents, such as the agreement between
Frate Melano, Operaio of the Duomo, and Maestro Niccolò Pisano for the
work of the pulpit (Sept. 29th, 1266), and the assignment of the tavola
of the high altar to Duccio di Buoninsegna (Oct. 9th, 1308). Here, too,
are shown the documents of the last days of the once mighty
Republic--"Il Governo della Difesa della Libertà Senese ritirato in
Montalcino"--down to the surrender of that last stronghold of Sienese
liberty. There is, further, a whole collection--of the utmost interest
to students of Dante--of documents illustrating the _Divina Commedia_,
with the Will, _testamento_, of Messer Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo.
Even more interesting than these, and absolutely unique of its kind, is
the collection of _Tavolette dipinte della Biccherna e della Gabella_,
the painted covers of the Treasury Registers of the Republic of Siena,
which "offer a true museum of exquisite paintings, which is likewise a
history of national sentiment [_del sentimento cittadino_], from Don
Ugo, monk of San Galgano, seated at his desk of the Biccherna to
regulate accounts and taxes with the feudatories, to the allegory of the
sufferings endured during the last, heroical siege."[143] The officers
of the Biccherna--Camarlingo and four Provveditori--administered the
revenues of the State; the officers of the Gabella--Camarlingo and
three, afterwards four, Esecutori--were mainly concerned with the
collection of taxes. Every six months a fresh set of Provveditori and
Esecutori came in, fresh registers were begun, and at the end of the
year the retiring Camarlinghi of Biccherna and Gabella (and sometimes
the other officials) had the covers of the books of their term of office
painted with their arms and those of their colleagues, and with either
their portraits or some religious or allegorical device, or with the
representation of one of the chief political events of the past year.
This lasted until long after the fall of the Republic; but by that time
the old book covers had been replaced by regular pictures, but still, to
show their origin, marked with the arms of the Camarlinghi and their
colleagues. Here I need enumerate only those _tavolette_ or _tavole_
that are more important, historically or artistically. For the
registers of the Biccherna in 1258, two years before Montaperti, we
have the portrait (by Gilio di Pietro) of Don Ugo the Camarlingo, who
was re-elected repeatedly, and whom we have already met in connection
with the cession of Montepulciano to the Republic. Later on we
frequently find the arms of the Podestà, and also the portrait of the
Scrittore, or scribe, who had to make the entries as the Camarlingo
dictated. For the Gabella of 1344, when the rule of the Nine was nearing
the end of its triumphant course, we have the Government of Siena
enthroned over the Lupa, painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti; for the
Biccherna of 1385, after the fall of the Riformatori and the
establishment of the new Monte del Popolo, there is a similar allegory
by some later follower of the Lorenzetti, in which the citizens, bound
together in the white bonds of pure concord, assemble before the Genius
of the Commune. Apart from their great historical interest, many of the
_tavolette_ of the Quattrocento are little gems of Sienese painting.
That of the Biccherna of 1433 represents the Coronation of the Emperor
Sigismund; the Biccherna of 1436 gives us a striking St Jerome by an
unknown painter; the Gabella of 1440 and 1444, St Peter of Alexandria
and St Michael, both ascribed to Giovanni di Paolo. The Tavoletta di
Biccherna of 1449 shows the Coronation of Pope Nicholas V.; that of 1451
represents Ghino di Pietro Bellanti washing his hands in the presence of
the Blessed Virgin, to manifest his loyalty and the purity of his
administration--whereas he was a traitor of the deepest dye who, five
years later, was implicated in the plots to betray Siena to Piccinino
and the King of Naples, and forced to fly for his life. The Tavoletta di
Gabella of 1455, by an unknown artist, refers to the crusading zeal of
Pope Calixtus III.; it represents the Annunciation, between St Bernard,
as the preacher of the second Crusade, and the Pope himself blessing
the youths and maidens of Siena who took part in the processions that he
ordered, to pray Heaven for the downfall of the Turk.[144] The curious
design of the Biccherna of 1457, of the school of Sano di Pietro, is,
according to Mr Heywood, "symbolical of the peace made between the
Sienese Republic and the Count Jacopo Piccinino." Both _tavolette_, of
the Biccherna and of the Gabella, of 1460, are concerned with Pius II.;
in the one he is crowned by two Cardinals, under the special patronage
of the Madonna, while Siena is seen below guarded by her lions of the
People (probably a reference to the papal attempt to restore the nobles
to the government); in the other, he confers the cardinal's hat upon his
nephew, Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini; Mr Berenson ascribes the one
to Il Vecchietta, the other to Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Also by
Francesco di Giorgio is the Biccherna cover for 1467, representing the
Madonna with Angels protecting Siena in the time of the earthquake, when
the people fled from their homes into huts and tents. For the Gabella of
1468, there is a quaint allegory of Peace and War, of uncertain
authorship; on the one side citizens pay in their money, and on the
other the Camarlingo deals it out to the mercenaries, while genii of
Peace and War hover in the air.[145] Then follow two exquisite little
paintings by Sano di Pietro, the Tavolette di Gabella of 1471 and 1473,
respectively representing Wisdom proceeding from God, and the marriage
of Lucrezia di Agnolo Malavolti (Messer Agnolo being one of the
Esecutori in 1473) to Count Roberto da San Severino, a great Lombard
condottiere. In 1474, also Gabella and of doubtful authorship, we have a
later version of the old allegory of good government; Liberty, in the
black and white of the Commune and holding the _balzana_, sits between
the Camarlingo and the Scrittore, with the legend: "He rules who
ministers well." Until 1497 the pictures that follow all belong to the
Gabella. For 1479 is the entry of the allied forces--Sienese,
Neapolitans, _papalini_--into Colle di Val d'Elsa, an episode of the war
against Florence in the days of Pope Sixtus IV. and Alfonso of Calabria;
while in 1480, that year when the Duke's intrigues against the liberties
of Siena came to a head, the Madonna is seen recommending the city to
her Divine Son. Both are ascribed to Francesco di Giorgio, though the
latter--a singularly beautiful painting--is attributed by Mr Berenson to
Neroccio di Bartolommeo Landi. Specially interesting (though of less
artistic importance) is the tavoletta of 1483, which represents the
solemn presentation of the keys of Siena to the Madonna delle Grazie in
the Duomo, when all the four Monti were reduced to one. The painter has
combined in one representation two of the great events of that year,
which are thus described by Allegretto Allegretti, who in the previous
August had himself been admitted to the Council of the People:--
"On Saturday, March 22nd, there was held a council of all the
government, and there were 256 councillors present, in which a general
resolution was brought forward on the motion of Messer Bartolommeo
Sozzini, who was Captain of the People, concerning the well-being of the
city and to make of all the government one Monte. It was supported by
many persons, and carried by 245 white beans to 11 black. Afterwards a
resolution was carried to give a hundred lire in alms to churches, for
prayers to God. And Messer Andrea Piccolomini moved that every year for
Holy Mary of March a palio should be run of the value of 50 florins.
The beans were all white. He further moved that all the Council should
accompany the Signori to the Duomo. And at the altar of the Madonna of
the Duomo, together with the Cardinal Malfetta, they offered up prayers
and rendered thanks, and the _Te Deum Laudamus_ was sung; after which
the Cardinal made one of his bishops attach to the said Madonna delle
Grazie an indulgence of seven years and seven periods of forty days; and
in the evening salvos were fired and bells rang _a gloria_."[146]
This was after the exclusion of the Noveschi from the government, but
before their expulsion from the city--after which latter event the scene
represented in the tavoletta took place:--
"On the 24th day of August the old Signoria and the new, with the
officers and orders of the city and with the greater part of the People,
went to the Duomo and heard the High Mass, together with the Cardinal of
Siena, the nephew of Pope Pius of the House of the Piccolomini. And when
Mass had been said, Frate Mariano da Genazzano, of the Hermit Order of
St Augustine, made a fine sermon. And when the sermon was ended, the
Signoria, Cardinal, canons, and all the clergy and all the People went
to the altar of the Madonna. After certain prayers, the Prior of the
Signori, in the name of the magnificent Commune of Siena, offered up the
keys of the City of Siena upon the altar of the said Madonna. Lorenzo
d'Antonio di Ser Lorenzo was the old Captain of the People, and Andrea
di Sano Batteloro was Prior, and Crescenzio di Pietro di Goro the new
Captain. Then the _Te Deum Laudamus_ was sung; and of all these things
the deed was drawn up by Ser Giovanni Danielli. The Cardinal took the
keys as Procurator, and in the name of Our Lady gave them into the hand
of the Prior of the Signori, recommending to him the city, that he
should hold and govern it in the name of Our Lady, and that he should
make no other contract concerning it. Then the Prior gave to each
Gonfaloniere his keys."[147]
Perhaps in the two following years, stormy and blood-stained for Siena,
it was not thought safe to venture upon politics in painting; at least
the tavolette of 1484 and 1485, by Guidoccio Cozzarelli, represent
purely religious scenes--the Presentation of Mary in the Temple and the
Sacrifice of Isaac. Then in 1487 we have an allegory (ascribed by Mr
Berenson to Fungai) of the triumphant return of the Noveschi--the
Sienese ship of State guided into harbour by the Madonna herself. For
the Gabella of 1489 we have another political religious allegory, the
officials beseeching the Madonna and Child to visit their city once
more. The Tavoletta di Biccherna of 1497 represents a band of horsemen
entering Siena--probably either the escort of the French ambassador or
(I would suggest) the _provvisionati_ who were hired by the Balìa in
that year to support the prepotency of the Monte de' Nove. The Tavoletta
di Gabella of 1499 (perhaps by Guidoccio Cozzarelli) represents St
Catherine receiving the Stigmata, and reflects the suddenly revived cult
of her which was curiously noticeable--as a kind of protest against the
corruption of the Curia--during the jubilee of the following year. For
the Gabella of 1526 we have the splendid victory of Camollia, ascribed
to Giovanni di Lorenzo Cini. For 1542--painted for the Camarlingo di
Gabella, Conte del Rondina--is an allegory of the reforms attempted by
Granvelle and Sfondrato. The Sienese ship of State is borne safely to
port over perilous seas by a great sail (_gran vela_), with a leafless
tree (_sfrondato_) for mast, while her predecessor has been shattered
to pieces upon the rocks.[148] The Tavola di Biccherna of 1548 is a
beautiful Madonna of the school of Beccafumi. Then come four pictures of
the heroic last days of the Republic, all four ascribed to Giorgio di
Giovanni; for both Biccherna and Gabella of 1552, the destruction of the
Citadel that Don Diego had built; for the Biccherna of 1553, the defence
of Montalcino; for 1555, the last year of the free Republic, an allegory
of the siege--St Paul with Siena in the background and the inscription:
"All, who wish to live justly, suffer persecution." The Medicean arms
appear in a tavoletta of 1558; after which, in 1559, the Biccherna gives
us the treaty of Câteau Cambresis, the Gabella the surrender of
Montalcino; and in the Tavola di Biccherna of 1561 we see Cosimo de'
Medici making his entry into Siena. After this, the note is changed. We
have a few tavole dealing with the efforts of Christendom to roll back
the Turk (1566, 1568, 1571), and with such events of universal interest
as the Reform of the Calendar or the fall of Ferrara; but, for the most
part, the Camarlinghi under the new regime contented themselves with
recording the domestic affairs of their Medicean masters in the spirit
of a Court chronicle, or adding their tribute to the devotion to the
Madonna of Provenzano.
There are also some excellent miniature paintings shown here, especially
by Sano di Pietro in the Statutes of the Arte di Mercanzia, 1472, and by
Niccolò di Ser Sozzo Tegliacci representing the Assumption, 1336, one of
the finest miniatures of the fourteenth century.
Beyond the palace is the Piazza Piccolomini, with the Loggia del Papa
that Antonio Federighi built for Pius II. in 1462, inscribed "Pius II.,
Supreme Pontiff, to his Kinsmen the Piccolomini"--a kind of
architectural glorification of discriminating nepotism. The church of
San Martino, in its present form, dates from the latter part of the
Cinquecento. On the right of the entrance is the votive picture of the
Battle of Camollia, commissioned by the Balìa in honour of the
Immaculate Conception in 1526, and painted by Giovanni di Lorenzo Cini.
While the battle is raging outside the walls, Heaven opens and the
Madonna appears with Angels, to protect her chosen city from papal
aggression. Over the third altar on the left is a poetically conceived
Nativity by Beccafumi, unfortunately much darkened, painted about 1523,
with what Vasari calls _un ballo di Angeli bellissimo_--exquisite Angels
clustering round the Divine Child, or circling ecstatically round the
Mystical Dove that hovers above the ruins of the pagan world. The marble
framework of the altar is by Il Marrina. The church contains also a
Circumcision by Guido Reni. There was a great burning of vanities here
in the piazza on June 1st, 1488, after a sermon by Fra Bernardino da
Asti; false hair, dice, cards, masks and the like were heaped together,
with a figure of a devil on the top, and the whole fired.
The Via di Salicotto--or more simply styled Salicotto--is the
headquarters of the Contrada della Torre, the energetic rivals of the
Oca. The tall ruined houses opposite the Palazzo Pubblico, the narrow
viali with over-arching masonry, give it a most picturesque appearance.
Here, past where the Via de' Malcontenti runs into the Mercato, is the
little church of San Giacomo, now the oratory of the Contrada. It was
built in 1531, in commemoration of the great victory over the papal
forces in 1526, and contains a famous miraculous picture of the
Immaculate Conception--the Madonna between St James and St
Christopher--painted in 1545 in honour of the same event by Giovanni di
Lorenzo Cini, who was also one of the operai presiding over the
construction of the oratory, and had himself fought in the republican
ranks on the day of battle.[149] Further on are the church and convent
of San Girolamo--at present in the hands of the Sisters of Charity. In a
niche in the cloister is a frescoed Assumption by Fungai. There are some
good pictures in the church and sacristy, including a Madonna by Matteo
di Giovanni, a St Jerome by Girolamo del Pacchia, and a Coronation of
the Madonna by Sano di Pietro.
The church of the Servites, or of the Santissima Concezione, beyond the
original circuit of walls, is a good early Renaissance building, raised
between 1471 and 1528. From its platform, especially at sunset, there is
a fine view of Siena. In the right aisle are: the much venerated Vergine
del Bordone, in the Byzantine style, painted in 1261 by a certain Coppo
di Marcovaldo; the Massacre of the Innocents, by Matteo di
Giovanni--quieter and less violent, but also less dramatic and no more
convincing than his other representations of this subject--with above it
the Madonna and Child with Angels, and the two donors presented by their
patron saints; and, up above Matteo's picture, a little Nativity, by
Taddeo di Bartolo. In the left aisle is the Madonna del Belvedere,
painted by Giacomo di Mino del Pellicciaio in 1363, his best work; the
figures on either side, St Joseph with the Divine Child holding a crown
of thorns, the Magdalene with the baby Baptist, are ascribed by Mr
Berenson to Fungai. By Fungai too is the Coronation of the Madonna on
the high altar. In the second chapels, to right and left of the choir,
are the remains, much restored, of frescoes ascribed to Pietro and
Ambrogio Lorenzetti; the Massacre of the Innocents and St Agnes, the
Dance of the Daughter of Herodias and the Resurrection of St
John--these latter somewhat recalling Giotto's work in Santa Croce. Over
the sacristy door is the Madonna del Popolo, a lovely little picture by
Lippo Memmi. In the sacristy is the Madonna del Manto, Our Lady taking
the people of Siena under her protection, by Giovanni di Pietro, 1436,
an otherwise almost unknown master. The Oratory of the Santissima
Trinità, beyond the Servites, contains a Madonna by Neroccio Landi.
To the left of San Girolamo is the Fonte San Maurizio, at the place,
just outside the older circuit of walls, where the horse and cattle
markets were held before the present fourteenth century walls were
built. The arch over the beginning of the Via Ricasoli, with a
seventeenth century fresco, representing the Blessed Trinity with St
Maurice and St Jerome, marks the place of the old gate. The Via Romana
runs out hence to the Porta Romana. On the left is a somewhat ruined
palace, in the style of the Florentine Quattrocento, now known as the
Rifugio, built about 1474, probably by Giuliano da Maiano, for the Abbot
and monks of San Galgano, whose device of the sword stuck fast in the
rock is seen still on the exterior. There is a curious petition of
theirs to the Signoria, dated May 31st, 1474, in which they explain that
they have begun this palace, "having a desire to convert their little
income to the honour and ornament of your City, and in some part to the
perpetual utility of that Abbey of yours," and that, as times are bad,
they want to be exempted from the Gabella, and to have further aid from
the State.[150] Further on is the great Augustinian convent of the
Santuccio, in the church of which the head of San Galgano is preserved
in a richly decorated reliquary. The Porta Romana, formerly the Porta
Nuova, was built early in the fourteenth century by Agostino di Giovanni
and Agnolo di
[Illustration: FONTE SAN MAURIZIO]
Ventura; the frescoed Coronation of the Madonna is by Taddeo di Bartolo
and Sano di Pietro; the distich in her honour was written later by
Niccolò Borghesi. It is thus the same gate through which Enea
Piccolomini led the French deliverers in 1552, and that witnessed these
French march out in 1555, with the long line of republican exiles, and
the triumphant entry of the Marchese di Marignano. A short way beyond
the gate is the church of Sta. Maria degli Angioli, a building of the
latter part of the Quattrocento; the altar-piece (in a rich frame by
Antonio Barili), the Madonna and Child with four Saints, a lunette and
predella, is signed and dated 1502, by Raffaello di Carlo, a Florentine
painter, by whom there are also works in the Palazzo Corsini and Santo
Spirito at Florence. In the sacristy is a standard painted with an
Assumption by Riccio.
The other south-eastern gate, the Porta Pispini, has the remains of a
frescoed Nativity by Bazzi. According to the legend, the name Pispini is
derived from "Il Santo viene," "the Saint cometh,"--the cry raised by
the people when the relics of St Ansanus were brought to the city.
Outside the gate, a little to the left, is the modernised remnant of one
of the bastions erected by Baldassare Peruzzi, as architect to the
Republic.
Santo Spirito, in the Via Pispini, is the chief church of the Dominicans
in Siena, and its convent was one of those reformed by Savonarola. It
was built about the year 1498; the cupola was designed by Giacomo
Cozzarelli and built for Pandolfo Petrucci in 1508, the façade designed
in 1519 by Peruzzi for Girolamo Piccolomini, Bishop of Pienza. The first
chapel on the left, the Borghesi Chapel, has a glorified Madonna
worshipped by St Francis and St Catherine, with child angels, and two
beautiful little winged genii standing at the tomb; it is the finest of
all Matteo Balducci's works, thoroughly Umbrian in feeling. On the right
is the Cappella degli Spagnuoli, decorated with frescoes (circa 1530),
painted in the days of the first Spanish occupation of Siena by Bazzi;
the Madonna investing St Alphonso with the episcopal robes, in the
presence of two radiantly beautiful virgin martyrs and Angels; St James,
represented as a Spanish knight in full armour, superbly mounted,
slaying Saracens; St Thomas and St Michael, St Sebastian and St Antony.
The single figures are of the utmost beauty. The large terra-cotta group
is by Ambrogio della Robbia. The statues of St Vincent Ferrer and St
Catherine (the two followers of St Dominic who were found on opposite
sides in the schism), in the second chapels, are ascribed to Giacomo
Cozzarelli. The Coronation of the Madonna, over the third altar on the
left, is by Girolamo del Pacchia. The Crucifixion on the entrance wall
is ascribed to Sano di Pietro. There is a Coronation by Beccafumi in the
sacristy, and in the cloisters a frescoed Crucifixion painted by Fra
Bartolommeo's pupil, Fra Paolino da Pistoia.
The church of San Giorgio in the Via Ricasoli is, in its present form, a
work of the eighteenth century. But it occupies the site of a most
ancient church, which was rebuilt in honour of the Battle of Montaperti;
its curious campanile, best seen from below the walls, still dates from
1260, and its windows are supposed to represent the different companies
of the Sienese who took part in the battle. Near the house of the
liberal theological thinkers of the Cinquecento, Lelio and Fausto
Sozzini (the founders of the Socinians), which was afterwards a palace
of the Malavolti, the Via di Follonica leads to the church of San
Giovanni Battista in Pantaneto, which possesses a terra-cotta statue of
the Baptist, ascribed to Giacomo Cozzarelli, and several pictures of
scenes from his life by Rutilio Manetti. Lower down to the right is one
of Siena's characteristic mediaeval fountains, the Fonte di Follonica,
probably constructed in the early years of the thirteenth century.
Opposite the Palazzo del Governo, is the Studio, the famous and still
flourishing University of Siena. It contains a characteristically
Sienese sepulchral monument of the later Trecento, representing the
professor, Niccolò Aringhieri, lecturing to his pupils. In the Via
Sallustio Bandini is the graceful brick palace that Francesco di Giorgio
built for Messer Sallustio, the father of Mario and Francesco, and
ancestor of the celebrated man of science. On the left are the remains
of one of the _castellacce_, or private fortresses, of the thirteenth
century.
It is a curious turn of fortune that he of whom "all Tuscany sounded"
after Montaperti, and of whom "they hardly whispered in Siena" after his
fall at Colle,[151] should have given his name to the most conspicuous
modern church in his native city. The Madonna of Provenzano was raised
to the Blessed Virgin as Protectress of Siena at the end of the
sixteenth century. As an inscription to the left of the church bears
witness (and there is a most unsavoury _novella_ of Pietro Fortini's to
the same effect), this part of the city was notorious for its evil
living, mainly given up to houses of ill-fame, especially in the days of
the Spanish occupation. According to the legend, St Catherine had set up
a little shrine with an image of the Madonna here, which was
rediscovered by Brandano, who declared that here was the greatest
treasure of Siena, and that "hither all the most honoured ladies of the
nation shall one day come." In 1594 the image began to work miracles,
and the present sanctuary was built in consequence.[152] The pictures
that it contains are naturally by later Sienese masters, such as
Francesco Vanni and Rustichino. In the sacristy there is what purports
to be a portrait of Brandano.
The great church of San Francesco was mainly built in the second quarter
of the fourteenth century, from the designs of Agostino di Giovanni and
Agnolo di Ventura. It was outside the walls and there was a gate of San
Francesco, under the arch of which we still pass to-day. When Pius II.
came to Siena, he stayed in the convent and the gate had to be kept open
at night for the convenience of his numerous visitors[153]--which
induced the Concistoro to decree that it should henceforth be included
within the walls. Over the door of the church is a statue of St Francis,
by Ramo di Paganello of about 1288. Ruined by fire in the seventeenth
century, abandoned to military purposes in the nineteenth and recently
restored, the building is but the shadow of its former self. Still, in
spite of the modern stained-glass windows from Munich, it remains the
most simple and severe, the most typical and austerely Franciscan of all
the Italian Gothic churches of Tuscany. The paintings and sculptures
that it contains are mere fragments of its original decorations, and for
the most part transferred from other parts of the church and convent.
The ruined fresco of the Visitation, on the right of the entrance, is
ascribed by Mr Berenson to Taddeo di Bartolo. In the second chapel on
the right of the choir is the monument of Cristoforo Felici (one of the
Operai of the Duomo) of 1462, one of the best works of Urbano da
Cortona. In the choir are marble half-length portraits of Silvio
Piccolomini and Vittoria Forteguerri, the only remains of the sumptuous
monument that their son, Pope Pius II., raised to their memory in 1458.
In the first chapel on the left is a frescoed Crucifixion by Pietro
Lorenzetti, and in the third chapel are two scenes from the history of
the Franciscan order--St Francis before the Pope and the Martyrdom of
Franciscan Missionaries--by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Ruined and repainted,
these latter appear to be the remains of a series of frescoes which
Ghiberti saw and admired in the cloisters here. The chapel opposite was
formerly that of the nephews of Pius II., the Todeschini Piccolomini and
Piccolomini d'Aragona; it was restored and modernised by a noble lady of
the Saracini a few years ago. The Cardinal Virtues on the pavement were
originally executed by Lorenzo di Mariano. In the cloisters, outside the
Seminary chapel, there is a Madonna Lattante, entitled _Sedes
Sapientiae_, by Giacomo Cozzarelli. The chapel itself contains a most
beautiful Madonna and Child by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and a large fresco,
of uncertain authorship, of the same epoch. The Seminary further
possesses several good early Sienese paintings.
Under the shadow of San Francesco rises the little oratory of his great
Sienese follower, San Bernardino. On the ground floor is a Madonna and
Child with St Ansanus and St Bartholomew, a beautiful early work of
Andrea del Brescianino. On the upper floor, in an antechapel, are a
Madonna by Sano di Pietro and a marble bas-relief, the Madonna with
Angels, signed by Agostino di Giovanni. The oratory itself is the
"Siena's Art-laboratory" of Robert Browning's _Pacchiarotto_ poem. Its
walls are covered by a series of frescoes by Bazzi, Girolamo del Pacchia
and Beccafumi, painted between 1518 and 1532, among the finest
achievements of these three masters, under a richly decorated roof of
the end of the Quattrocento by Giuliano Turapilli. On the left wall are:
St Louis of Anjou by Bazzi; the Nativity of the Madonna, by Pacchia,
showing Florentine influence; the Presentation in the Temple, by Bazzi;
the Sposalizio by Beccafumi; San Bernardino by Pacchia. On the altar
wall, between the Archangel and the Virgin of the Annunciation by
Pacchia, is a grandiose fresco by Beccafumi (painted in 1537, nearly
twenty years later than his other works here), representing the Madonna
and Child enthroned with Apostles, Franciscans, and Angels. On the right
wall are: St Antony of Padua, now ascribed to Pacchia; the Visitation by
Bazzi; the Death of the Blessed Virgin, with Angels and Apostles
clustering round, Christ rushing down from Heaven to receive her soul,
by Beccafumi; the Assumption and St Francis by Bazzi. Between the
windows is the Coronation of Mary in Heaven by the Blessed Trinity, with
the Baptist and Adam as assessors, also by Bazzi.
The little church of San Pietro Ovile contains two good early Sienese
paintings. On the right is the Annunciation with, above, the Crucifixion
between St Peter and St Paul; the central scene is a copy, with
variations and some change of sentiment, from the well-known picture by
Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi in the Uffizi. Opposite to it is a
Madonna and Child by Pietro Lorenzetti, between San Bernardino and the
Baptist by Matteo di Giovanni.
* * * * *
"Before you, magnificent and potent Lords, Lords Priors, Governors of
the Commune, and Captain of the People of Siena,"--thus begins a
petition of February 25th, 1465 (_i.e._ 1466)--"the least of your
children and servants, the Officers over the Adornment of your City,
with due reverence set forth that they are continually thinking how to
do what may be to the adorning of the city, especially on the Strada
Romana where pass the strangers who give praise to all the city."[154]
This
[Illustration: PIAZZA AND PALAZZO TOLOMEI]
Strada Romana is the present Via Cavour, still the busiest in the city.
Passing up it towards Camollia, from the Croce del Travaglio, we come to
the Piazza Tolomei, in which the people assembled on the eve of
Montaperti. The great grey stone Palazzo Tolomei, its portals guarded by
two lions and surmounted by the armorial bearings, the three crescent
moons, of that great Guelf House, was begun in 1208; it is the oldest,
perhaps the most imposing of all the private palaces in Siena. The
councils of the State occasionally met here in the first days of Guelf
preponderance after the battle of Colle, and it was here that King
Robert of Naples was entertained in 1310. In earlier times--those
eventful days that preceded Montaperti--the General Council met in San
Cristofano opposite. The column with the Lupa--though the present wolf
only dates from the seventeenth century--was originally erected in 1260,
after Montaperti, in token of this. The church itself was modernised in
the eighteenth century. It contains some tombs of the Tolomei and a good
picture by Girolamo del Pacchia, representing the Madonna and Child
between St Luke and the Blessed Bernardo. It was in this church in 1376
that St Catherine effected a reconciliation between the Maconi, headed
by Stefano and his father Corrado, and the Tolomei and Rinaldini. Behind
it, round and about the Via del Re, there are a number of picturesque
old houses of that epoch standing and several towers that once belonged
to the Tolomei.[155]
On the left, next to the Gothic Palazzo Tolomei, is a graceful little
palace in the style of the fifteenth century, decorated above with the
Lily of Florence. Further on, on the right, is the Palazzo Bichi,
rebuilt in 1520 for the unfortunate Alessandro. At the corner of the
Piazza Salimbeni is the Palazzo Spannocchi, begun in 1473 for Messer
Ambrogio Spannocchi, the treasurer of Pius II. It is a perfect type of
the massive, yet graceful domestic architecture of the Florentine
Quattrocento. Formerly ascribed to Bernardino Rossellino, Signor Lisini
has recently discovered reason for believing that it (as well as the
palace in the Via Romana of the Abbot of San Galgano) was built under
the direction of Giuliano da Maiano.[156]
The vast Gothic Palazzo Salimbeni, a compromise between a castle and a
palace, was mainly constructed in the thirteenth, but modernised in the
nineteenth century. The back of it should be surveyed from the Piazza
dell' Abbadia, where it is frequently mistaken by tourists and other
casual persons (including one English writer of repute!) for a Gothic
abbey; the name of the piazza really refers to San Donato, which was
formerly an abbey and the family church of the Salimbeni, as San
Cristofano was that of their rivals, the Tolomei. The great Ghibelline
family that played so turbulent a part in the early history of Siena
gradually died out; "to-day," wrote Bargagli, in the latter part of the
Cinquecento, "it is utterly extinguished; besides their arms and their
palaces, nought else remains of them save the name." We may take their
palace as the background for two of the best and most beautiful love
stories of old Siena. In one, Anselmo di Messer Salimbene Salimbeni, one
of the richest young nobles of the city, is secretly enamoured of
Angelica Montanini, whose brother Carlo is the last of a noble but now
ruined house, between which and the Salimbeni there is a deadly feud.
Thrown into prison on a trumped-up charge of plotting against the
popular regime, a price is set upon Carlo's life; he refuses to pay,
lest his sister should be reduced to beggary, and is about to perish on
the scaffold when Anselmo steps in and pays the fine to excess. The
expedient by which Carlo and Angelica attempt to repay their debt to
Anselmo is somewhat repugnant to our modern code of ethics or
conventions--it appears again in the underplot of Thomas Heywood's _A
Woman Killed with Kindness_--but it ends in the marriage of Anselmo and
Angelica in San Donato to the great delight of all the city. In the
other story, Ippolito Saracini has fallen passionately in love with
Cangenova, the youngest of the three orphan daughters of Messer Reame
Salimbeni, and his love is returned. But the mother, anxious first to
marry her other daughters, will not suffer his addresses, and keeps
Cangenova in strict seclusion. Pretending to leave Siena as a pilgrim to
St James of Compostella, Ippolito lurks in a little house near San
Lorenzo, which is next door to the garden in which the lady and her
daughters walk. He watches Cangenova at sunrise, watering her lilies and
violets in the balcony or playing with the little goldfinch that has its
nest in the mulberry tree outside her window. Then one night he takes
advantage of her mother's absence to climb the tree, and draws her to
the window by frightening her goldfinch. A sudden fright brings their
meeting to a premature end, and presently she is dying. Disguised as a
pilgrim, Ippolito visits her on her death-bed, and they interchange
professions of unalterable love; he joins her funeral procession as a
member of one of the confraternities, carrying a torch, and falls dead
in San Francesco when the tomb is closed.[157]
In the Via delle Belle Arti, next to the picture gallery which has
already been described, is the Biblioteca Comunale, once the
meeting-place of the most famous of the Sienese academies--the
_Intronati_. Among its treasures are two of the original letters sent by
St Catherine from Rome to Stefano Maconi; they are not, however, in her
own handwriting but appear, from internal evidence, to have been
dictated by her to Barduccio Canigiani.
Further on in the Via Cavour, to the left, is the exquisite little early
Renaissance church of Sta. Maria delle Nevi, built shortly after 1470
for Giovanni de' Cinughi, Bishop of Pienza, probably from the designs of
Francesco di Giorgio. The altar-piece, representing Our Lady as Queen of
the Snows, with a predella illustrating the legend of the building of
Sta. Maria Maggiore at Rome, was painted by Matteo di Giovanni in 1477;
a most poetically conceived work and one of the most beautiful pictures
of the Sienese Quattrocento. This part of the Terzo di Camollia was
originally the famous Poggio Malavolti, where that great family had
their towers and houses in a regular fortress as far as the recently
demolished convent of the Cappuccine; it was surrounded with walls and
had a gate near where Sta. Maria delle Nevi now stands.
On the right the steep and picturesque Via Vallerozzi leads down the
Costa d'Ovile, the scene of the massacre of 1371, to the Porta Ovile.
Half way down is the oratory of San Rocco, the church of the Contrada of
the Lupa, with frescoes by Manetti and Rustichino. The Fonte Nuova, a
little off the street to the left, was built by Tino di Camaino in the
fourteenth century. In the Via Garibaldi, on the way to the railway
station, is the _Casa della Consuma_, the palace in which the _brigata
spendereccia_, the extravagant young club of Sienese nobles recorded by
Dante in canto xxix. of the _Inferno_, ran through their fortunes. There
has been much throwing about of brains upon the question whether this
notorious _brigata spendereccia_ is, or is not, to be identified with
the _brigata nobile e cortese_ of which Folgore da San Gimignano sung,
and whether Dante's "Niccolò who first discovered the rich usage of the
clove"--who is usually said to have been either a Salimbeni or a
Buonsignori--is the Niccolò di Nisi to whom Folgore dedicated his
_corona_. However that may be, the present aspect of the _Casa della
Consuma_ is prosaic and modern. In the same street is the oratory of the
Brotherhood of St Sebastian, for which Bazzi painted that most wonderful
of banners now in the Uffizi. It has early seventeenth century frescoes,
illustrating the life of the martyr.
Following up the Via Camollia towards the gate, we have on the right the
Campansi, a former convent of Franciscan nuns, now a poor-house. Most of
its artistic treasures have been removed to the picture gallery, but a
certain number of frescoes have been preserved. In the cloisters is a
large Assumption, mingling Sienese and Umbrian influences, the work of
Matteo Balducci and (according to Mr Berenson) in part of Pietro di
Domenico. On the first floor are: an Annunciation by Sano di Pietro; a
Madonna and Child with St Anne, attended by the Magdalene and St Ursula
(poetical in conception, but rather poorly executed) by Beccafumi; a
Resurrection by Benvenuto di Giovanni. From a window in the women's
department a beautiful view is obtained of San Francesco.
The Madonna of Fontegiusta was built in 1479, as a thanks-offering for
the victory of Poggio Imperiale, by Francesco Fedeli and Giacomo di
Giovanni of Como. Over the outer portal is a beautiful Madonna and Child
with Angels, of 1489, by Neroccio Landi. In the sixteenth century the
fashionable thing was to hear vespers in this church on Sunday
afternoons. In Pietro Fortini's _Novelle de' Novizi_, his five "right
honest but most facetious ladies" attend vespers here, and at the holy
water basin (the work still of Pacchia's father, Giovanni delle
Bombarde) they join company with their "two winsome youths, most
disposed to the service of love," and walk out with them in the cool as
far as the Palazzo de' Diavoli.[158] The marble high altar, with the
Pietà and exquisitely worked setting, is the masterpiece of Lorenzo di
Mariano, executed in 1517 and, according to the legend, sent to Rome on
mules for the edification of Leo X. The frescoed Assumption, in the
lunette above the altar, is by Girolamo di Benvenuto. On the right wall
is a Coronation of the Madonna by Fungai. On the left wall is the fresco
of the Sibyl revealing the mystery of the Incarnation to Augustus, by
Baldassare Peruzzi. It has been damaged and badly restored, and is one
of the painter's latest and less satisfactory works, showing a mannered
and unsuccessful attempt to imitate the style of Michelangelo. The
Madonna commending Siena to her Divine Son is by Bazzi's pupil and
son-in-law, Il Riccio. The shield and whalebones over the door are said
by tradition to have been sent here as a votive offering by Christopher
Columbus.
The Porta Camollia bears the famous and characteristic Sienese greeting
to all that enter: _Cor magis tibi Sena pandit_, "Siena opens to thee
her heart more than her gate." When Pius II., on January 31st, 1460,
returned to Siena from the fruitless congress at Mantua, he passed
through this gate and found all the streets as far as the Duomo
gorgeously decorated. Inside the gate there was a structure to look like
a Paradise with a choir of boys dressed as angels; when the Pope drew
near, one of them descended from his place and sung so sweetly,
commending the city to him, that Pius burst into tears. When Charles
VIII. of France entered here in May 1495, accompanied by the Signoria
who had met him at the Antiporto, he had a similar reception, a boy
dressed to represent the Madonna as Queen of the city singing a Latin
welcome to the sound of music. The present gate was built in 1604, in
honour of the Grand Duke Ferdinand I., from the design of Alessandro
Casolani.
Outside the gate is the Piazza d'Armi or Prato di Camollia, where the
Spanish soldiers mustered in 1552 on the surrender of the citadel. Here
is the column that marks the place where Enea Silvio Piccolomini
introduced the Emperor to his bride, Leonora of Portugal. The Antiporto
or Portone was many times destroyed and rebuilt, the present structure
dating from the seventeenth century. A short way further on, on the road
towards Florence, is the _Palatium Turcorum_, the palace of the Turchi
(a family of the Noveschi who were connected with the Piccolomini), a
red brick structure with a fine tower. It has been popularly called,
from the fifteenth century downwards, the Palazzo de' Diavoli. The
chapel is a fine piece of Renaissance architecture by Antonio Federighi,
with a frieze somewhat recalling that of the chapel of the Campo; in the
interior are tasteful terra-cotta mouldings and an Assumption with a
multitude of Angels, St Jerome and St Thomas--like a Sienese picture of
the Quattrocento in terra-cotta--also by Federighi. It was little beyond
this palace that the Sienese pursued the routed Florentines and
_papalini_ in 1526--but they fled for ten miles without stopping.
We retrace our steps through the Porta Camollia to the Lizza, that
favourite promenade of the Sienese which now covers the site of Don
Diego's citadel, where the nightingales are loud at evening among the
trees at the entrance to Santa Barbara, the Medicean fortress of Duke
Cosimo thrown open to the citizens by an Austrian Grand Duke. The church
of San Stefano, on the Lizza, contains over the high altar the
masterpiece of St Catherine's painter disciple, the reformer Andrea di
Vanni, painted about 1400. It is a typical Sienese picture, but of no
surpassing merit; the Madonna and Child are enthroned in the central
panel, with the Annunciation above; at the sides are the Baptist and St
Bartholomew, St Stephen and St James, with the four Evangelists above
them and other saints in the _cuspidi_ and pinnacles. The faces of the
virgin martyrs have something of the characteristic Sienese gentle
sweetness. The predella is obviously later, being probably the work of
Giovanni di Paolo.
[Illustration: _At the older circuit of the walls_]
THE FAMILY OF POPE PIUS THE SECOND
SILVIO PICCOLOMINI
d. 1450,
m. Vittoria Forteguerri,
d. 1454.
|
+----------------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| | |
ENEA SILVIO LAODAMIA, CATERINA,
(POPE PIUS II.), m. Francesco Todeschini. m. Bartolommeo
1405-1464. | Guglielmi.
| |
+----------------------+------------------+----------+------+-----------------+ |
| | | | | |
ANTONIO FRANCESCO ANDREA, MONTANINA, GIACOMO, ANTONIA,
(Duke of Amalfi, etc.) (POPE PIUS III.) m. Agnese Farnese. m. Lorenzo m. (1) Camilla m. Bartolommeo Pieri
d. 1493, 1439-1503. | Buoninsegni. Monaldeschi, (Piccolomini delle
m. (1) Maria d'Aragona, | (2) Cristofora Papesse).
(2) Maria di Marino | Colonna. |
Marzano. | | |
| +--------------+---------+--+-------------+-----------+ +----------+ |
| | | | | | | |
ALFONSO, PIER FRANCESCO, GIOVANNI MONTANINA, VITTORIA CATERINA, ENEA SILVIO.
m. Giovanna m. Francesca (Cardinal m. Sallustio m. Borghese m. Lattanzio m. Maddalena |
d'Aragona. Savelli. Archbishop Bandini. Petrucci. Tolomei. Marescotti. |
| | of Siena), | | |
| | 1475-1537. | | |
| | | | |
ALFONSO, | +--------+-----------+ ANTONIO, |
(Duke of Amalfi, | | | m. Elena Sforza. |
Captain-General of | MARIO, d. 1558, FRANCESCO | |
the Sienese), | m. Eufrasia (Archbishop of | |
m. Costanza d'Avalos. | Accarigi. Siena), d. 1588. VITTORIA.=======ENEA, d. 1555.
| | | |
| | +-----+-------------+----------------+ +--------+----------+
| | | | | | |
| | GERMANICO SALLUSTIO, BERENICE, SILVIO. ASCANIO
INNIGO, d. 1566.=====SILVIA. (titular m. Cecilia m. Alfonso Bardi | (Archbishop
| Archbishop of Bufalini. (whose descendants OTTAVIO PICCOLOMINI of Siena),
COSTANZA, d. 1610 Corinth), d. 1569. took the name of D'ARAGONA Duke of d. 1597.
Bandini-Piccolomini). Amalfi, d. 1656.
CHAPTER X
_Some Famous Convents and Monasteries_
Beyond the Porta Ovile, on the hill known as the _Capriola_, rises the
convent of the Osservanza, one of the chief houses of the
_Osservanti_--San Bernardino's followers of the strict observance of the
rule of St Francis, who have recently been united with the _Riformati_
and others of their spiritual kindred to form one body, under what Mr
Montgomery Carmichael, our chief lay authority on matters Franciscan,
appropriately calls "the glorious and primitive style and title of the
Friars Minor." From the earliest Middle Ages, there stood upon this spot
a little chapel dedicated to the hermit St Onuphrius. Bernardino passed
this way in June 1406, and found that a crowd of people had come out
from the city, to celebrate the hermit's feast. Before the young
Franciscan's eyes lay stretched that noble panorama of Siena that we see
from the convent to-day. Suddenly fired, he climbed up into a tree and
addressed them in words so inflamed with divine love that, while many
wept, there were some that deemed him mad. A few years later the Spedale
of Sta. Maria della Scala, to which the place belonged, made it over to
him, and he founded the present convent upon the site of the chapel.
The present convent and church were rebuilt by
[Illustration: _Fountain outside Porta Ovile_]
Pandolfo Petrucci, but were considerably altered and enlarged in the
latter part of the seventeenth century. The church is said to have been
designed by Giacomo Cozzarelli, shortly before that master reared for
Pandolfo his own sumptuous palace near the Duomo, and to have been
actually built by four friars of the Order--Filippo and Leone of
Florence, Leonardo da Potenza, and Leone da San Gimignano.[159] It is
full of terra-cotta work and early Sienese pictures. In the first chapel
on the left is a perfect little gem by Sano di Pietro; the Madonna and
Child enthroned, with Angels clad in the green and red of hope and
love, winged with the white of faith. In the next chapel is the
Coronation of the Madonna, perhaps the most divinely beautiful of all
the works of Andrea della Robbia, with the Annunciation, Nativity and
Assumption in the predella; the motive of St Francis, with his hand upon
the head of the kneeling St Clare, is especially happy. This is surely
the kind of sculpture in which Dante saw the examples of humility on the
wall of the first terrace of Purgatory. The altar-piece of the third
chapel is also by Sano di Pietro, representing the Madonna and Child
between Bernardino and St Jerome; while in the fourth is a picture of
Saints by Taddeo di Bartolo, with a predella by Sano. In the chapels
opposite are a Madonna and Child, with St Ambrose and St Jerome, the
Annunciation above, a meritorious work by Stefano di Giovanni, and the
Crucifixion, the masterpiece of Bazzi's son-in-law, Il Riccio, but badly
restored. The terra-cottas on the vaults are ascribed to Francesco di
Giorgio. In the choir are statues of Mary and Gabriel of the
Annunciation, of the school of the Della Robbia; and a contemporary
portrait of San Bernardino, said to have been painted in 1439 by Pietro
di Giovanni Pucci. Certain of his relics are preserved beneath the high
altar in a silver reliquary of 1472, the work of Francesco di Antonio.
Pandolfo Petrucci is buried in the sacristy, which contains a Pietà
questionably ascribed to Giacomo Cozzarelli. Among the numerous
sepulchres in the crypt is that of Celia Petrucci, a fashionable beauty
of the sixteenth century. Under the church is a little chapel formed of
the original cell of San Bernardino--transported bodily from the older
convent--with the same wooden door wherewith he shut himself out, for
brief intervals, from the turbulent world for which he laboured. Thus
are the memories and relics of Siena's great apostle of peace curiously
linked with those of her first tyrant.
Somewhat more than a mile beyond the Porta San Marco is the Abbey of
Sant' Eugenio, usually known simply as _Il Monastero_. This is the
castle-like building that is so conspicuous in the foreground to the
south, in the view from the ramparts of Santa Barbara. It is reached
from the gate through pleasant lanes, lined with vineyards and olive
plantations, that in spring and summer swarm with that noblest of
European butterflies, the tiger-striped _Papilio Podalirius_. It was
originally a monastery of the Benedictines of Monte Cassino and was
founded in the eighth century; Piero Strozzi fortified it in 1554, but
it was soon occupied by the imperial forces. At present it is the
property of a Sienese family, the Griccioli, and has been completely
modernised. From one of the former cloisters there is a fine view of the
mountains to the south. The best of the pictures have gone from the
church, and those that remain have been repainted. There is a much
damaged Bearing of the Cross, belonging to the series of frescoes that
Bazzi painted for the Compagnia di Santa Croce. Two frescoes by
Benvenuto di Giovanni--the Resurrection and the Crucifixion--are among
that painter's better works. In the chapel to the right of the choir is
a Madonna and Child with two Angels by Francesco di Giorgio, and, in the
chapel to the left, a Madonna and Child, an authentic work by Ambrogio
Lorenzetti. The famous Assumption of the Madonna--somewhat too
enthusiastically praised in England--by Matteo di Giovanni, which once
adorned the high altar, is now in the National Gallery of London, and a
Madonna by Duccio, which was formerly in the sacristy, appears recently
to have followed it beyond the Alps--unless it has made a longer voyage
and, like other Italian pictures, crossed the Atlantic.
"Superficially," writes John Addington Symonds, "much of the present
charm of Siena consists in the soft opening valleys, the glimpses of
long blue hills and fertile country-side, framed by irregular brown
houses stretching along the slopes on which the town is built, and
losing themselves abruptly in olive fields and orchards. This element of
beauty, which brings the city into immediate relation with the country,
is indeed not peculiar to Siena. We find it in Perugia, in Assisi, in
Montepulciano, in nearly all the hill towns of Umbria and Tuscany. But
their landscape is often tragic and austere, while this is always suave.
City and country blend here in delightful amity. Neither yields that
sense of aloofness which stirs melancholy."[160]
We leave Siena by the Porta Fontebranda, along the way by which the
returning Noveschi crept up to the city walls on that fateful night
between July 21st and 22nd, 1487, turning back at intervals for the
varied glimpses of San Domenico with its huge red bulk and tower, or the
gleaming marbles of the Duomo. At the antimony works, where the road
divides, we take the way to the right, westwards. Presently we mount up
again, through lanes on either side that might almost be English--only,
when these break away, the silvery olives, the convents on the hills,
Siena's towers and the distant mountains remind us that we are in
Tuscany. "The most charming district in the immediate neighbourhood of
Siena," to quote Symonds once more, "lies westward, near Belcaro, a
villa high up on a hill. It is a region of deep lanes and golden-green
oak woods, with cypresses and stone-pines, and little streams in all
directions flowing over the brown sandstone. The country is like some
parts of rural England--Devonshire or Sussex. Not only is the sandstone
here, as there, broken into deep gullies; but the vegetation is much
the same. Tufted spleenwort, primroses, and broom tangle the hedges
under boughs of hornbeam and sweet-chestnut." The view of Siena behind
us gradually expands, as we mount up. When the little chapel is passed,
we keep to the right; presently an avenue of oaks and ilex-trees leads
to the villa, or castello, of Belcaro.
Belcaro, superbly situated and thickly clothed round with a magnificent
grove of rich, dark-green ilex-trees, was a strongly fortified place in
the early days of the Republic, and in the fourteenth century it
belonged to the Savini. At the beginning of 1377 it was much decayed,
and Nanni di Ser Vanni Savini gave it to St Catherine, with the consent
of the government, to be made into a convent of "religious women who
shall continually pray for the city and inhabitants of Siena." She
called it Santa Maria degli Angeli, and several of her letters are
addressed from it. Later on, the convent became a fortress once more,
and at one time belonged to the Bellanti; in 1525 it came into the hands
of the Turamini, a rich family of bankers. Crescenzio Turamini had the
present palace, loggia and chapel built from the designs of Baldassare
Peruzzi, and employed the master himself to decorate them with frescoes.
On the ceiling of a hall on the ground floor is the Judgment of Paris,
which has caught not a little of the Raphaelesque grace and charm of the
decorations of the Farnesina. It has been repainted. A loggia is
likewise covered with decorative work, mythological scenes and
arabesques, which have been so modernised by restoration that nothing
really remains of Peruzzi's original work save the invention and design.
In the chapel there are a Madonna and Saints behind the altar from his
hand, with Evangelists and Saints on the walls, and the arms of the
Turamini above. These are practically Peruzzi's last works, and were
finished at the beginning of 1535, but have all been more or less ruined
by the restorers. In a room in the villa there is a Madonna and Child
with St Catherine and San Bernardino--a lovely little picture by Matteo
di Giovanni.
There is a typical inclosed Italian garden of romance, with its
lemon-trees and pomegranates; but the chief charm of Belcaro is its
noble view. Upon all sides, as we wander along its terraces and
parapets, the mountains and the valleys of the Sienese dominion lie
outstretched before us, Siena herself _l'amorosa madre di dolcezza_ away
to the east, the grove of ilex-trees at our feet. A trophy of canon
balls records the great siege of the city. At the beginning of the war,
Belcaro was held by the forces of the Republic. On April 4th, 1554, it
was attacked by the imperialists in force, 2000 infantry and 50
horsemen, with two pieces of artillery. A mere handful of French
soldiers, eight in number, under a Beaufort, held out till noon, when
their officer was killed and the rest surrendered. Afterwards, the
Marchese di Marignano had his headquarters here. Beneath Peruzzi's
fresco or among the trees of the garden, he may have drunk wine with his
captains while the hapless victims, the "useless mouths," lay perishing
between the walls of the city and the trenches of his soldiery. Here, in
April 1555, he received the two Sienese ambassadors, Girolamo Malavolti
and Alessandro Guglielmi, who came to make the necessary arrangements
for the surrender of the city, after the terms of the capitulation had
been decided in Florence.
Instead of turning up at the chapel to go to Belcaro, we turn down to
the right and then again down through the flowery lanes to the left,
where huge white or grey oxen drawing wains block the way at intervals,
and a dark-eyed boy, leading two beautiful white goats, greets us in his
pleasant musical Tuscan. Suddenly the landscape changes. The lanes end
and woods appear--we are approaching the great _Selva del Comune_.
Above
[Illustration:
_Alinari, Florence_
THE CORONATION OF THE MADONNA
(ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA. OSSERVANZA, SIENA)]
the forest ground, over the scantier trees to the left, rises, solitary
and austere, the convent of the Augustinian hermits, San Salvatore di
Lecceto: "a blessed place," writes Ambrogio Landucci, "in which the Most
High chose to work so many wonders." According to tradition, the
disciples of St Ansanus fled to these woods when the Roman persecutors
discovered their hiding-places in the city; St Augustine found hermits
here in the fourth century, and gave them a rule of life. St Monica and
St Jerome are said to have visited the place, and William of Aquitaine
(this, at least, seems a historical fact), whom Dante afterwards saw
among the warriors of the Cross in the rosy sphere of Mars. "Our ancient
hermitage," says Landucci, "was ever a sweet attraction for sanctity."
Francis, the Seraphic Father of Assisi, came here too, and plucked from
one of its ilexes the stick which he afterwards stuck into the ground at
Capraia, and which grew up into a goodly tree. The place was originally
known as the _Convento di Selva_, the Convent of the Wood, which was
also called the _Selva di Lago_, because of the lake or swamp
(afterwards drained) that lay at the foot of the hill. The name Lecceto
is derived from the abundant ilex-trees which, though much reduced in
numbers, are still one of the glories of the district. The golden age of
the convent begins after 1256, when Pope Alexander IV. united all the
Augustinian hermits into one order, and Lecceto became the head house of
Tuscany. It produced an enormous number of _beati_, of whom Fra Filippo
Agazzari, the pious novelist, and William Flete, St Catherine's
correspondent, an Englishman who had settled here, are the only ones
whose fame has penetrated beyond the boundaries of Tuscany.
Wonderful legends linger round the convent and the forest, told with
much vividness and simplicity by Fra Filippo, with much unction by
Landucci. Angels are said to have descended in human form, to eat with
the hermits in their refectory or to succour them in their needs; the
flowers of this forest, when sent to other places, healed the sick and
worked miracles, "all evident signs that here flourished a continual
spring of Paradise." The Dominican Ambrogio Sansedoni, then a young
knight, coming from Siena up through the wood to the convent (the very
way in which we are treading now), was assailed by the fiend in the
guise of a beautiful girl whom two ruffians had bound to a tree. The
pious historian assures us that the knots had been tied by the Gordius
of Hell to entangle Ambrogio's soul, but that, while he laboured to
untie them, he discovered the snare and repulsed the foe by the sign of
the Cross.[161]
Very sweet and pleasant are the pictures that Fra Filippo gives us of
the priors of Lecceto in his day; for "the friars who had to choose
them, always put in that convent for prior the best friar and the one of
most holy life that there was in the province." He tells us of Frate
Bandino de' Balzetti, who was so strict in the rules that when he saw a
thief taking away the convent donkey at the time of silence, rather than
break the silence or cause the friars to break it, he let him lead it
off, while he himself went into the church to pray for the redemption of
that thief's soul. Of course the thief was miraculously moved to
repentance, and the prior sent him away in peace with a plenteous
alms.[162] He tells in full the life of Frate Niccolò Tini, a friar of
the convent of Sant' Agostino in Siena, young in years but old in wisdom
and sanctity, who was made Prior of Lecceto in 1332 and ruled it until
his death in 1388. It was under him that Filippo himself entered as a
novice in 1353, and he records with enthusiastic love and admiration
the man's boundless humility and meekness, patience and charity.
Suffering agonies from two horrible complaints, the Prior was always
bright and kind, though his face would show sometimes the agony he
endured. He loved to tend the sick with his own hands, to distribute all
that the convent had of bread and wine to the poor--himself going to the
gate to do it, because he knew that they would not fare so well at the
hands of the other brethren. "His joyous face seemed that of Moses, so
burned his heart with love and charity, and with such gladness did he
receive strangers, especially the servants of God." Many times during
his priorate the friars had to fly from the place, when the wandering
companies of mercenaries were ravaging the contado. "One morning," says
Fra Filippo, "I arrived there with a companion at the dinner hour, in
the days when a company was expected, and already all the place was
cleared, and we found the Prior alone, for the other friars had fled
with the goods from the place. And as soon as he saw us, that blessed
Prior received us with so much love and charity and with such gladness,
that it was a wondrous thing. And in all the place there remained
nothing to eat, save only two rolls which he had kept for himself, very
small, and some wine and some leeks. And with a holy charity he
constrained us to eat with him, and he set those two rolls on a table
without a cloth, and the wine and the leeks. God knoweth that I do not
lie, but I never found myself at feasts nor at weddings nor at any
banquet, where I seemed to myself to fare so well and so abundantly or
where the food did me so much good; and the like befell my companion.
For the sweetness of the words of God that were on his lips was meat
above all the meats of the world."
Once whilst Frate Niccolò was prior--it must have been a few years after
Filippo entered the convent--Lecceto was threatened by the Sienese
themselves. Shortly after the fall of the Nine in 1355, when Massa and
Casole and other places were in arms against the new regime of the
Twelve, a son of Messer Ranieri da Casole was seen to come into the wood
with certain foot soldiers. The rumour spread that the Prior of Lecceto
was sheltering outlaws, who came to do evil to the city of Siena. More
than four hundred armed contadini threatened the convent, captured three
of the men in the wood and sent them to the Podesta, while in Siena
there uprose an uproar in the Campo, and the people shouted to go to
Lecceto and burn the place down. The friars of Sant' Agostino sent a
warning to the Prior, that the people were already on their way to waste
the place. While the armed crowd of peasants broke into the convent and
rang the bells _a martello_, the Prior shut himself into the chapel and
prayed earnestly before the image of the Saviour. At once a sudden rain
fell; the three prisoners, whom the mob had been going to hang, were led
back to the Podesta and proved innocent; the armed forces of the people
turned back, the contadini went quietly home, "so that in a short while
all the Place was cleared of folk, and that blessed Prior remained in
peace with his friars."[163]
Perhaps, St Catherine preferred saints of a more robust temper. It is
somewhat curious that she appears to have had no intercourse with Frate
Niccolò, though we have several letters of hers addressed to other
friars of Lecceto, especially Antonio da Nizza and William Flete. They
were among the men of holy life whom Pope Urban summoned to Rome, to
assist in the reformation of the Church, and neither wished to leave
their beloved solitude. "I shall see," she wrote to them, "if we really
have conceived love for the Reformation of holy Church. For if it is
really so, you will follow the will of God and of His Vicar, you will
leave the wood and come to enter upon the field of battle. But if you do
not do it, you will be disregarding the will of God. And, therefore, I
pray you, by the love of Christ crucified, that you come soon, without
delay, at the demand that the Holy Father makes of you. And do not fear
that you will not have a wood; for here there are woods and
forests."[164]
We pass up through the oaks and ilex-trees--the latter, scanty in parts
and freshly planted round the convent buildings, are grand and dense
enough further on to make a real forest still--until we reach the
_Eremo_, with its small church and castle-like square tower of the
monastery. The present buildings, though restored, date from the
fourteenth century, and the tower was built in 1404, when Filippo
himself was Prior. The place is silent and deserted now, left in the
charge of a family of contadini, save for a month or so in the year,
when the students of the Archbishop's seminary of Siena come here for
their _villeggiatura_.
Outside the church, in the portico, are frescoes painted about 1343 by a
certain Paolo di Maestro Neri, a follower of Ambrogio Lorenzetti,
somewhat recalling the style and spirit of those of the master himself
in the Sala de' Nove, or those by that other unknown pupil of his in the
Campo Santo of Pisa. The whole portico in front of the church is covered
with them, mainly in monochrome; partly obliterated, they originally
formed one of those vast allegories of human life in which the painters
of the Trecento--above all the Sienese--delighted. The artist here is as
severely ascetical and monastic in spirit as the unknown master of the
"Triumph of Death." On the one side is Paradise; on the other side is
Hell. The long wall between them sets forth the life of the cloister and
the life of the world, the one leading to Heaven, the other to Hell. In
the one, we have peace and war; love-making and dancing; feasting and
dicing, the loser seizing the winner by the throat; the car of pleasure,
over which Cupid flies, while youths and ladies are with musicians
within; a great boar-hunt; money-changing; a court of law; travellers
waylaid by robbers. The devils are in it all; they wait by the
gaming-table, they sit on the horse that draws the car of pleasure, they
watch the hunting and all man's ordinary business, they pounce upon the
soul of the murdered, they preside over the death-bed of the impenitent.
War is raging in earnest; a grim sea-fight is in progress, the devils
are blowing on the ships and urging them against each other; there is
the storming of a castle--the demons sound the trumpets for the
onslaught, and carry off through the air the souls of those that fall.
But above, behind the city from whose gates the pleasure-seeking crowd
of worldlings has passed out, is Christ with the banner of the
Resurrection--ready to save, if only they will turn to Him.[165] And in
the other fresco to our left, a number of men of all ages and conditions
have taken their crosses upon their shoulders, to carry them after
Christ. We are shown the Works of Mercy and the life of the Evangelical
Counsels. The devil is here too--but only to be vanquished and put to
flight. Then we have the death of the just--in the corner, to match the
death of the impenitent sinner at the end of the other fresco. And after
that, comes only the Paradise.
The frescoed Christ over the door of the church is probably by the same
painter. In the second cloister there are a number of frescoes
originally painted at the beginning of the Quattrocento. They are
greatly damaged, obliterated in parts, completely restored in others; we
get a vague general impression of hermits doing works of mercy and
seeing visions, of St Augustine giving his rule, of holy deaths in
convents and hermitages. Further on are five better preserved. The first
is the story of Giovanni di Guccio, told by Fra Filippo.[166] Giovanni
di Guccio, who belonged to a wealthy family of the Monte de' Nove,
entered Lecceto as a boy, but in the noviciate found the coarse food so
trying that he thought that he would have to leave the Order. In the
wood he met "an ancient man of right venerable aspect," who confirmed
him in his vocation. "And suddenly He showed him the wounds of His side
and of His hands and feet, from which there issued such great splendour
that that of the Sun is nothing in comparison with it, and they all
seemed bleeding. Then, straightway, He vanished." This Giovanni was
prior in 1323 and often told this story as an example, as of another
person, and not until his death did the brethren know that he spoke of
himself. In the other frescoes, we see an abbot preaching in front of
the convent, a painted ideal of penitential life and pious death, the
monks journeying with a sainted prior in their midst, and the return of
the lost sheep to the fold. The whole cloister, with the well in the
middle, is picturesque. There is little to see in the church, where a
few frescoed saints seem striving to emerge from the whitewash.
Down among the vines (on the left of the entrance as you face the
convent) is the famous holy well, the "Poggio Santo," now dilapidated.
According to the legend, piously recorded by Landucci, there was at
first no water to be had, but one of the hermits, _novella Moisè_
"novello" Moisè, struck the arid soil with a rod, and at once a spring
of limpid water gushed out, with miraculous powers of curing those
stricken with fever. One of the original hermits is said to have been
buried in this field, and our pious historian even discovers some hidden
mystery of divine things in the colours of the stones that lie around.
In a clearing in the wood on the eminence opposite the convent is the
little chapel, now restored, of San Pio. In November 1460, the friars of
the chapter and convent of San Salvatore, otherwise Lecceto, presented a
petition to the Signoria of Siena, to the effect that they wanted to
build an oratory under the name of San Pio and could find no place more
suited to their purpose than the hill opposite the Place of Lecceto,
"the which hill belongs to the magnificent city of Siena, and is a woody
and stony place, from which no fruit can be got." They therefore beg the
Magnificent Signoria to give them enough land on the said hill to build
their chapel: "which thing will be acceptable to our Lord God, and also
will greatly please the Holiness of our Lord Pope Pius the Second, who
has many times been to the said place. And your petitioners undertake
ever to pray to God for your Magnificent Signoria, that it may prosper
and increase in a good and pacific state." The name of "the Holiness of
our Lord Pope Pius" was at that time one with which to conjure, and
their petition was approved successively by the _Concistoro_, the
Council of the People, and the General Council.[167]
At the bridge below Belcaro, we keep to the right and then turn off to
the left, skirting the wood, to San Leonardo al Lago, the remains of a
hermitage in the forest which was connected with Lecceto. Here Agostino
Novello, who had been Manfred's minister, lived in his austere old age
and died. A few picturesque ruins of the hermitage remain, with the
woods rising up behind them, but the rest are farm buildings. The church
contains, in the choir, a beautiful series of frescoes: the Presentation
of the Blessed Virgin in the Temple, the Annunciation, the Sposalizio;
with, on the four segments of the vault, four choirs of Angels, singing
and making music, gazing down on the sacred scenes on the walls or
assisting at the Mass on the altar below. They appear to be works of
some later follower of the Lorenzetti, but are ascribed to a certain
Pietro di Lorenzo, a mediocre painter of the early Quattrocento. Four
small miracles of St Leonard, on the left, almost obliterated, are of no
artistic importance, but one of them gives a most vivid representation
of the torture of the _corda_ or strappado, with the scribe taking down
the confession; in this case, the Saint is upholding the victim. In the
crypt is the original burial-place of Agostino Novello.
The Abbazia di San Galgano, a long drive from the Porta San Marco, was a
Cistercian house whose monks at one epoch regularly served the Republic
as Camarlinghi di Biccherna. According to the legend, Galgano Guidotti
came hither in 1180, and on Monte Siepi, above the Merse, struck his
sword into the rock. Here he died in 1181. A few years later the Bishop
of Volterra, Ugo dei Saladini, built a round chapel over the hermitage
and founded a small house of Cistercians. This chapel still remains. The
great Cistercian monastery and abbey-church of San Galgano, in the plain
of the Merse, were built in the thirteenth century, being probably begun
in 1220 and 1224 respectively. Of the monastery, only a few ruins
remain. The abbey-church, magnificent still in its ruin, is one of the
purest and noblest pieces of Gothic architecture in Italy; it is a
typical building of the Cistercians, whose churches and convents, purer
in style and earlier in date than those of the Friars Minor and Friars
Preachers, have caught more of the true spirit of northern Gothic than
have theirs.[168]
The most famous, and perhaps still the most interesting, of all the
monastic houses in the State of Siena is that of Monte Oliveto Maggiore.
It can be reached either from Asciano, a picturesque little town with a
number of paintings of the Sienese school in its churches, or by driving
all the way from Siena by Buonconvento. Pedestrians, if they do not
intend to spend the night at the convent, should take the morning
diligence to Buonconvento, and walk down to Asciano from Monte Oliveto
in the afternoon to catch the evening train back to Siena. We drive out
of the Porta Romana, Siena gradually growing more distant behind us,
Monte Amiata rising nearer and more distinctly in front. About two miles
from Buonconvento we cross the Arbia, and then again by an old bridge
outside the gate.
The little townlet of Buonconvento itself, where Henry VII. died in 1313
and Alfonso of Calabria had his headquarters in 1480, is inclosed in
well-preserved walls of the fourteenth century, with the _balzana_ and
lion of Siena's Commune and People over the gate. In the one street,
which is practically all the place, is an old tower with armorial
bearings of generations of Podestàs. The church of San Pietro and San
Paolo, near the gate, deserves a visit for a most beautiful little
Madonna and Child by Matteo di Giovanni, over the high altar. To the
left of the altar are pictures by Sano di Pietro (the Madonna with St
Catherine and San Bernardino) and Pacchiarotti (an early work according
to Mr Berenson). There are also a frescoed Coronation of the Madonna
ascribed to Sano, on the right wall, an Annunciation with the Magdalene
and St Antony by Girolamo di Benvenuto, on the left, and a Madonna in
glory with Saints in the manner of Pacchia.
From Buonconvento we gradually mount upwards, partly through oak woods,
to Monte Oliveto. Long before we reach it, the great red-brick convent
becomes visible, with the curious little townlet of Chiusure, once
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
A MIRACLE OF ST BENEDICT
(BAZZI)]
a place of some slight importance, high up on the hill above it, looking
like a part of the bleak mountain side. This whole region, the desert of
Accona, is wild and barren in the extreme, save where the strenuous
labour of these Olivetan monks has effected some cultivation; the
convent itself appears as an oasis in a wilderness of cretaceous
precipices, or _balze_. As we mount, it gets wilder and more bare in
front, while round and behind us an ever grander and more spacious
outlook opens; Siena is dimly seen in the distance, Monte Amiata rising
higher and higher to the south, and, more westward, that loftily placed
last home and refuge of the battered Republic, heroic Montalcino with
its towers. At last we reach the monastery portal, guarded with a
machicolated tower like a fortress; a long avenue of cypresses leads
down to the church with its massive square tower and the convent
buildings, built into the ravines. They are built of a rich red brick
which, as Addington Symonds notes, "contrasts not unpleasantly with the
lustrous green of the cypresses, and the glaucous sheen of olives."
It was, as we have seen, in the very year of the Emperor's death in
Buonconvento below, 1313, that Bernardo fled to this solitude. The son
of Messer Mino Tolomei (the head of the Ghibelline section of that
normally Guelf house) and Fulvia Tancredi, he was born in 1272, and
christened Giovanni. After a boyhood of piety and study, he was made
doctor by the Studio of Siena and knight of the Holy Roman Empire by
Albert of Hapsburg--which latter event was seized by the Tolomei as an
occasion for displaying all the wealth and splendour of their clan. He
had a dazzling career as leader of the social and intellectual life of
the city, though the stories told by his ecclesiastical biographers, of
his becoming practically ruler of the Republic, are obviously nonsense;
such things did not happen to noblemen while the Monte de' Nove held
sway. Then came his conversion. He had been going to deliver a
philosophical discourse in the Studio, so runs the legend, when he was
suddenly stricken with blindness. In the darkness he saw visions, prayed
to the Blessed Virgin and recovered his sight at her intercession.
Instead of his promised lecture, he poured out an impassioned homily
upon the contempt of the world.[169] He distributed all that he had to
the poor, retaining only a little land in this desert of Accona, to
which he now went forth with two noble companions, Patrizio Patrizi and
Ambrogio Piccolomini. The three began by raising with their own hands a
little chapel to St Scholastica. Giovanni now dressed in the roughest
hermit attire, and took the name of Bernardo. Men began to flock to him,
and certain Guelfs, suspecting a Ghibelline plot, are said to have
attempted to take his life by poison. Praying at the spot where now is
the great portal of the church, Bernardo beheld a silver ladder
stretching up to Paradise, with Angels leading white-robed men upwards
to Christ and the Madonna. Accused of heresy, Bernardo and Ambrogio were
summoned to Avignon, where Pope John XXII. received them kindly and
recommended them to Guido Tarlati, the warrior bishop of Arezzo, who (in
accordance with a special communication from the Madonna, says the
legend) gave them a rule of life, armorial bearings and the white habit.
Thus the Order was founded and Bernardo began to build the church and
convent, over which the Archangel Michael and the fiends renewed the war
that they had waged in Heaven before the creation of the world. After
having been frequently sent by the Pope to heal the factions of Guelfs
and Ghibellines in many towns of Italy, at last in 1348, when the
terrible Black Death was ravaging the peninsula, Bernardo assembled his
monks, bade them leave the convent, going two and two to every town and
city to tend the plague-stricken, and all to assemble once more in
Siena, two days before the Feast of the Assumption, in the convent that
he had founded outside the Porta Tufi. All arrived safely, as he had
promised them. On the vigil of the Assumption, he addressed them for the
last time. Then, a few days later, he died; the rest took the
pestilence, and the greater part of them passed away with the people
they had come to tend.
At present the Olivetani have been almost everywhere suppressed. Here a
few monks remain, their superior being regarded as merely the _custode_
for the government, and there are a certain number of students. The
Abbate Generale of the Order resides at Settignano.
The frescoes of the greater cloister were painted in the days of the
Abbate Generale Fra Domenico Airoldi of Lecco. They illustrate the
legend of St Benedict, as told by Pope Gregory the Great in the second
book of his _Dialogues_. They were begun by Luca Signorelli in 1497, who
painted eight frescoes beginning in the middle of the story, and then
went away to undertake greater work in the Duomo of Orvieto. In 1505 and
1506 Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, who had known Fra Domenico in Lombardy,
took up the tale, and, while he told it in line and colour, kept the
whole convent in an uproar with his japery. "It would be impossible to
describe," says Vasari, "the fun that, while he worked in that place,
those fathers got out of him, for they called him the big lunatic (Il
Mattaccio), nor the mad pranks he played there."
Beginning from the side of the cloister adjoining the monastery church,
we have first nineteen scenes by Bazzi. We see Benedict as a youth
leaving his father's house at Norcia to go to study humanities at Rome,
his faithful nurse (who plays the same part in the original legend)
riding with him on a donkey; and then, his leaving the Roman schools,
"instructed with learned ignorance and furnished with unlearned wisdom"
as Pope Gregory has it, because scandalised at the dissolute lives of
his fellow-students. These two frescoes show that Bazzi had been
impressed by Pinturicchio's work at Siena; they recall Enea Silvio
setting out from Genoa and the Congress of Mantua. In the third,
Benedict mends the borrowed sieve that his nurse had broken, and the
townsmen hang it up at their church door, "to the end that not only men
then living, but also their posterity, might understand how greatly
God's grace did work with him upon his first renouncing of the world."
Here we see Bazzi himself, a fine piece of self portraiture, surrounded
by his pet birds and beasts, wearing the knightly robes and sword that
had been discarded by a gentleman of Milan who had just entered the
Order, and which the Abbot gave him in part payment for his work. Next,
Benedict meets Romanus on the way to Subiaco. Then, while Romanus lets
down a loaf of bread to Benedict in his cave, the devil, "envying at the
charity of the one and the refection of the other," hurls a stone and
breaks the bell with which Romanus used to signal to his young friend;
the painter's pet badger calmly drinks at a pond the while. Next, a
certain priest, by divine inspiration, brings a dinner to Benedict on
Easter Day. In the seventh fresco, Benedict instructs the shepherds who
found out his retreat; "and for corporal meat, which they brought him,
they carried away spiritual food for their souls." Then he rolls among
thorns, to overcome a temptation of the flesh that the devil put into
his mind by the representation of "a certain woman which some time he
had seen." After that, certain monks, by their persistence, induce him
against his will to become their abbot. Finding him too austere, they
attempt to poison him; but when he makes the sign of the Cross over the
cup, it breaks in pieces, and he goes back unharmed to his solitude.
Bazzi has made the ill-favoured monk, who was most insistent in urging
Benedict to be abbot, the one to offer him the poisoned cup. Then, as
many flock to him, he builds the twelve monasteries at Subiaco. In the
twelfth fresco, one of the finest of the series, Benedict receives
Maurus and Placidus, the young sons of the Roman nobles Equitius and
Tertullus, who are accompanied by a splendid troop of retainers. Next,
he beats the devil out of a monk who would not say his prayers; he makes
a fountain spring forth on the top of a mountain; he makes the iron head
of a bill that had slipped into the water return to its handle again.
Now Placidus has fallen into the lake and Maurus, at the bidding of the
man of God, runs upon the water and delivers him, after which "he both
marvelled and was afraid at that which he had done," but Benedict
ascribes it entirely to his obedience. This is a particularly attractive
picture, with the sweet boyish faces of the two young monks. After
another miracle (of which the subject is not quite obvious), on either
side of the door, we come to the attempt made by the priest Florentius
to kill Benedict by a poisoned loaf; the Saint's tamed crow, somewhat
unwillingly, takes it away where no man can find it, to return presently
for his own usual allowance. In the nineteenth fresco, Florentius tries
to corrupt the monks by sending a band of young and beautiful women to
the convent, to inflame their minds by dancing and singing. This was a
subject far more after Bazzi's own heart than were the trivial miracles
of monastic legend, and in the exquisite group of women, with their
Leonardesque faces, their subtle suggestion of rhythmic movement, he has
produced a masterpiece. Vasari tells us that the painter originally
shocked the worthy Abbot by representing this scene in a more realistic
fashion (in which, we may add, he would only be following St Gregory's
own version of what happened), and that he was afterwards compelled to
drape the figures.
Beyond this last fresco, there stood originally a door that led to the
great refectory. It was closed between 1530 and 1541,[170] after which
Bazzi's son-in-law, Bartolommeo Neroni or Il Riccio, painted upon the
new wall the fresco we now see. It represents St Benedict sending out
Maurus and Placidus as missionaries, the one to France, the other to
Sicily.
The eight frescoes that follow are Luca Signorelli's, but they hardly
rank among his best works and are, in addition, in a bad state of
preservation. In the first is the punishment of Florentius; the devils
have thrown down his chamber upon him and are carrying off his soul;
while Benedict, hearing what has happened, laments greatly, "both
because his enemy died in such sort, and also for that one of his monks
rejoiced thereat." In the second, he converts the inhabitants of Monte
Cassino from their worship of Apollo. In the third, he exorcises the
devil who sat upon the stone and prevented the monks from raising it,
and the idol of brass, which they dug up upon the spot and which seemed
to set the convent on fire. In the fourth, he raises to life the young
monk upon whom the devil had thrown a wall. The fifth is an admirable
piece of genre-painting, intended to illustrate St Benedict's discovery
by revelation that some of his monks had disobeyed him and eaten out of
the monastery. Two monks are eating and drinking in a primitive
diningroom of the epoch (not an inn, as usually stated, but
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
MAURUS AND PLACIDUS
(BAZZI)]
what St Gregory calls "the house of a religious woman"), waited upon by
women--fine robust daughters of the people; the Saint is just seen,
discovering to them their fault, on the right in the section of the
wall. In the sixth scene, we have the story of the devout layman, the
brother of Valentinian the monk, who was induced by a companion to break
his fast on a journey. The two remaining frescoes, the last that
Signorelli painted here, are of a far higher order and more
characteristic of his grand manner. They represent Totila, King of the
Goths, testing Benedict's supernatural wisdom by sending one of his
officers to him, disguised as himself; and then, when the Saint
recognises the deceit and rebukes the man, Totila comes in person with
his army, falls down before him and listens meekly to his words. In
both, Signorelli gives us a superb representation of the fierce
mercenary soldiery of his own day, and the work is full of his
characteristic vigour and delight in powerful, strenuous manhood. Here,
alone in the series, do we begin to recognise the future author of those
unapproachable masterpieces at Orvieto.
Bazzi now takes up the tale in the seven remaining frescoes. In the
first, Benedict foretells the destruction of Monte Cassino. The Saint
himself is barely seen in a corner, the picture representing the event
that he foretold. Monte Cassino is burning, while in the foreground is
the Lombard host, superb groups of horsemen in every attitude, which
recall Leonardo's famous Battle of the Standard which, however, it seems
probable that Bazzi could not then have known.[171] After this, we are
back in the region of petty miracles. Meal is miraculously brought to
the monks in time of famine. Benedict appears in vision to the abbot and
prior, whom he has sent to build an abbey near Terracina, and shows them
how it is to be done. Two nuns, whom he threatened with excommunication
because they would not bridle their tongues, cannot rest after death,
but are seen to rise from their graves and leave the church at the time
of the Communion, until he makes an oblation for them and (apparently)
gives communion in some mystical way to their unquiet ghosts. A young
monk, "loving his parents more than reason would," cannot be buried
after death, until Benedict bids them lay the Sacred Host upon his
breast. Another monk, wishing to forsake the abbey, finds a terrible
dragon in the way. A poor countryman, fallen into the hands of the Goth
Zalla, "an Arian heretic who, in the time of King Totila, did with
monstrous cruelty persecute religious men," is marvellously loosed from
his bonds at the sight of the man of God and Zalla himself moved to
repentance. This closes the series of Benedict's life. "Certainly," says
Peter to Gregory in the _Dialogues_, "they be wonderful things which you
report, and such as may serve for the edification of many: for mine own
part, the more that I hear of his miracles, the more do I still desire."
And we may feel disposed to say the same, if we have a Signorelli or a
Bazzi to paint them.
There are a few other frescoes by Bazzi in the convent. Between the
cloister and the church are Christ at the Column and Christ bearing the
Cross, works of intense spiritual expression, and another variously
described as Benedict giving his rule and Bernardo founding his order of
Monte Oliveto. On the stairs leading to the dormitories are the
Coronation of the Madonna and a Pietà, and, at the rooms of the Abbate
Generale, over the door, a Madonna and Child with St Michael and St
Peter. Outside the church a striking Madonna and Child in marble,
ascribed to Fra Giovanni da Verona, watches over the tombs of the
brethren. The church itself has been modernised. An old picture of the
three founders is said to mark the place where Bernardo saw the
Archangel Michael descend from Heaven in flashing armour to drive away
the devils who were threatening to destroy the foundations of the
building. It contains excellent intarsia by Giovanni da Verona,
especially on the reading desk and choir stalls, and there is similar
work by him in the library of the monastery.
Pope Pius II. came here in 1463, and in his Memoirs (those famous
_Commentarii Rerum Memorabilium_) we are given an account of his
visit.[172] He marvelled at the situation of the place and the wonderful
industry by which the monks had reclaimed so much of the desert soil, on
the very brink of the precipice, and at the excellent architecture of
the monastery. He found the woods and gardens as delightful to linger
in, as we do to-day, and struck the keynote of the feeling of every
modern visitor to these monastic houses of the past; "pleasant places of
refreshment for the monks, more pleasant still for those to whom, after
they have seen, it is lawful to depart." On the second evening of his
stay, the Pope supped with the monks in the refectory; while they were
at table he bade his choristers come in, who sang the new hymn that his
Holiness had composed in honour of St Catherine of Siena, "with such
soft harmony that they drew sweet tears from all the monks."
CHAPTER XI
_San Gimignano_
"La nobile più Città che Terra di San Gimignano."
San Gimignano of the Beautiful Towers is a place of frowning grey and
brown walls and towers, of mysterious alleys, of shimmering olive-trees
and fields of flowers that lie beyond, of flaming skies at sunrise, of
clamorous bells at nightfall. Hardly, indeed, would he be pressed who
should be called upon to award the crown of beauty to any one, rather
than another, of the smaller towns of central Italy, though San
Gimignano would perhaps deserve it. "No other town or castle in
Tuscany," wrote Gino Capponi, "retains more of the Middle Ages and was
less invaded by the ages that followed; in those towers, and in the
churches and in the houses of massive stone, is still something that
cannot be covered up by the thin plastering of modern times; ancient
memories keep their possession of it, the new life has hardly entered
in."[173] High up on the side of one of the hills of the Val d'Elsa--
"The hill-side's crown where the wild hill brightens,"
as Mr Swinburne sings of it--it watches the fertile valley of the Elsa
spread below, while to the north, beyond Certaldo (haunted still by the
spirit of him who wrote the Human Comedy of the Middle Ages), the
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
SAN GIMIGNANO]
Apennines bar the eyes' further progress. Behind it, to the west, are
hills that command a view of Volterra and the distant Mediterranean. The
woods that once gave the little town its picturesque name--"Il Castello
della Selva," the "Castle of the Wood"--have almost disappeared. In
their place it is surrounded with olive plantations, which temper with
their silvery softness the austerity of the towers and the walls:--
"Of the breached walls whereon the wallflowers ran
Called of Saint Fina, breachless now of man,
Though time with soft feet break them stone by stone,
Who breaks down hour by hour his own reign's span."[174]
The people are mediaeval still. You may see them throng the churches as
in the old days of simple faith, or hear them among the vineyards and in
the beanfields answer each other in the _rispetti_ and _strambotti_ of a
more primitive Tuscany. The place is miserably poor, in marked contrast
to the smug prosperity of its neighbours, Poggibonsi and Certaldo.
Living is exceedingly cheap, but there is no trade, and what little work
there is, is but scantily paid. Yet the people are full of old-world
dignity and courtesy, and seem cheerful in spite of it all, even down to
the little beggar _bambini_ who pursue the foreign visitor with
insatiable demands for foreign stamps and soldi, or pester him with
unseasonable offers to serve as guide.[175]
Like most other small Italian towns, the origin of San Gimignano--_il
nobile castello_, or _il florido castello di San Gimignano_--is hidden
in legendary clouds. There is, of course, a tradition of a Roman
foundation, a castle built by Silvius, a young Roman patrician involved
in Catiline's rebellion, of Attila's hordes of Huns hurled back by a
sudden apparition of St Geminianus the martyred Bishop of Modena (whence
the change of name from Silvia to San Gimignano), of a great palace
built by Desiderius King of the Lombards, of privileges granted by
Charlemagne. All these things are presumably mere fables. Luigi Pecori,
the historian of his native town, supposes that in the sixth or seventh
century, when the devotion to St Geminianus was widely spread, a church
was built to his honour here, that people gradually gathered round it,
until by the beginning of the eighth century there was a regular town,
which was fortified by a castle; and as it was then surrounded and
defended by woods, it was called the Castello di San Gimignano or the
Castello della Selva. Be that as it may, the first authentic mention of
the place is in a document of the early part of the tenth century.
From the tenth to the twelfth century, San Gimignano was subject to
Volterra and more particularly to the Bishop of that city; but in the
course of the twelfth century, its people were gradually winning their
way to virtual independence and self-government, like the other communes
of Tuscany, and like them beginning to exert supremacy and authority
over the petty nobles of the small castles in the vicinity. By the year
1200, they had practically attained their liberty. At this time they had
consuls, three or four elected annually, with a special council of fifty
and a larger general council "which met only in cases of peace or war,
usually in the Pieve, and always at the sound of the bell, as though
Religion with her solemn voice invited the citizens into her own
sanctuary to provide for the public weal."[176] Hitherto the Bishop of
Volterra had appointed two rectors, _rettori_, in whom the judiciary
power was vested; but in 1199, instead of these rectors, we begin to
find a Podestà, elected by the Council of the Commune, the first being
Messer Maghinardo Malavolti of Siena. At first, a native of the place
was sometimes elected; but after 1220 the Podestà was always a foreign
noble (usually, but not invariably, from Siena or Florence), who judged
civil and criminal cases, presided over the meetings of the General
Council and led the forces of the Commune in war; he brought with him a
judge and a notary with a certain number of attendants, _berrovieri_,
and was not allowed to entertain nor to receive hospitality from the
citizens. All this was more or less the same, on a smaller scale, as
what took place at this epoch in Florence or Siena; but here in San
Gimignano the effect of the appointment of a Podestà was not to reduce
the authority of the consuls, but rather to abolish that of the rectors
of the Bishop of Volterra, and we find him exercising his magistracy
side by side with the consuls for a longer period here than in the
larger communes. For the rest, his term of office was originally one
year, but it was afterwards reduced to six months; the same Podestà,
however, was frequently re-elected.
Hitherto San Gimignano had consisted of the _Castello Vecchio_,
surrounded by the old walls and with those grim antique gates, of which
the remains stand to-day in the shape of the two _portoni_, with a
suburb outside. But now, at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the
thirteenth centuries, the new circle of walls was built to inclose the
_Castello Nuovo_, as it was called; this is the _seconda cinta_, the
second circuit of walls that still surround the place.
With the thirteenth century begins the series of the wars of the
Sangimignanesi. In 1202, under their Podestà, they sent a force to
relieve Semifonte, then besieged by the Florentines, but ended by
helping to subject the castle to their formidable neighbours. They
amplified their own dominion, destroyed the fortresses of the lords of
various little castles in the contado, forcing them to enter San
Gimignano, and obtained Castelvecchio (which no longer exists) in 1210
from the Bishop of Volterra. They carried on a long intermittent
struggle with Volterra, sometimes for the possession of Monte Voltraio,
sometimes in alliance with the warrior bishop, Pagano de'
Pannocchieschi, whom his people expelled at intervals. Occasionally,
Florence or Siena would intervene and compel the two small communes to
keep the peace. San Gimignano even sent men to the Crusades, and two of
these, Bene Trainelli and a certain Gradalone, are said to have won
great honour. Within the city, there were the usual struggles between
the magnates and the people, the _grandi_ and the _popolani_, which came
to a head in 1233, when the houses of the Knights Templars were burned,
and a number of _popolani_, chosen from each of the then four contrade,
with the rectors of the Arts, were appointed to sit with the consuls in
the councils of the State. There was another tumult in 1236, which the
Bishop Pagano came in person from Volterra to appease, after which the
two Councils appear to have been reduced to one. In the days of
Frederick II., San Gimignano was Ghibelline, took its Podestàs "by the
grace of God and of the Emperor," and sent horse and foot to serve in
the imperial army. But the factions raged here, as everywhere else in
Tuscany. In 1246, irritated by an unusually heavy tax upon the churches,
the Guelfs rose. Headed by the sons of Guido Ardinghelli, they assailed
the houses of the Ghibellines, especially those of the sons of Messer
Salvuccio. The Podestà was absent at Certaldo; but he gathered troops in
the contado, and entered the town while the uproar in the streets was at
its height; he assailed the Guelfs who, under this combined attack and
the rain of bolts and arrows from the towers, were forced to retire.
There were numbers banished on both sides. Thus began the feud between
the houses of the Ardinghelli and Salvucci, that was to bring San
Gimignano into servitude.
Shortly after the middle of the thirteenth century, a more democratic
form of government was established. Instead of the consuls, the supreme
authority was vested in a magistracy of twelve, elected annually--the
twelve "Captains and Rectors of the People," two captains and one rector
being elected from each quarter of the town. There was the one Council
of the Commune, usually sixty in number. A special magistracy of eight
presided over the public expenses (the _Otto delle Spese_), and the
Podestà, of course, had a special council, which in San Gimignano
consisted of sixteen citizens.
But in the years in which this reformation was effected, immediately
after the death of Frederick II., the factions grew more furious. In
June 1251 the Guelfs rose, headed by the Twelve, expelled the Ghibelline
Podestà, Neri degli Uberti of Florence, and made themselves masters of
the town. Then in September 1252, the Ghibellines rose, headed by
Michele Buonfigliuoli. The Guelfs made their stand at the houses of the
Cini and Cici in the quarter of San Matteo, where after a desperate
battle--the Podestà vainly spreading the red and yellow banner of the
Commune and calling upon the combatants to lay down their arms--the
Ghibellines got the upper hand, sacked the houses and massacred their
opponents. The Guelfs appealed to the Bishop of Volterra, Ranieri de'
Pannocchieschi, who came to San Gimignano and patched up a sort of peace
between the two factions--apparently to the advantage of the Guelfs. The
Ghibellines rose again in January 1253; the gates were broken down and a
portion of the walls destroyed, until at last the men of San Miniato
interposed and assisted in expelling the leading Ghibellines.
This is the epoch of the short, flower-like life and flower-attended
death of the virgin heroine of San Gimignano, Santa Fina. Fina de'
Ciardi, born of a noble but poor family, at the age of ten contracted a
horrible disease and, instead of a bed, chose to lie upon a plank of
hard oak for five years, "offering herself up as a perfect holocaust to
God." She lost her father and mother, had horrible visions of the fiend
in the form of a serpent. Then according to the legend, eight days
before her death, St Gregory appeared to her, and told her that the end
of her miseries was come, for that on the day of his feast she would be
with him in Paradise. She died on March 12th, 1253, being then fifteen
years old. "Hardly had that blessed soul expired," writes the Annalist,
"than the Demons in envy and rage filled the air with such fearful
whirlwinds, that poor mortals were struck with horror. Against them the
sound of the bells of San Gimignano, moved by the invisible hands of
Angels, bore witness to the sanctity of Fina, and straightway caused
those storms and infernal whirlwinds to cease. At these prodigies, the
people flocked to the house of the saint, from which every one imagined
that these effects proceeded. And when they arrived there, they smelt a
fragrance of Paradise, and saw all the room where the sacred body was,
miraculously full of flowers, as also the board upon which she lay. And
when they wished to lift her from it, a part of the mortified flesh
remained attached to it and straightway turned into flowers."[177] Such
are the contrasts offered by mediaeval
[Illustration: APPARITION OF ST GREGORY TO SANTA FINA
(DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO)]
life and legend. The towns where the streets are still running red with
the blood of the citizens, while the remains of houses and palaces are
still smoking in their ruin, are visited by beings of another world, and
have mystical gates and windows that open out upon the unseen.
San Gimignano was now Guelf for a while, and sent a well-equipped little
force to swell the Florentine host at Montaperti in 1260. After the
battle the Ardinghelli, Pellari, Mangieri and other Guelf families fled
to Lucca; the Ghibellines took over the government and recalled Neri
degli Uberti to serve as Podestà. San Gimignano now followed the
fortunes of Siena, as in its Guelf days it had followed those of
Florence. But in 1269, after the battle of Colle di Val d'Elsa, it
became Guelf again under the suzerainty of Charles of Anjou, expelled
the leading Ghibellines, and took a Captain of the People in imitation
of the Florentines. But the neighbouring castle of Poggibonsi still
clung to the decaying cause of the Ghibellines, and sheltered the
_fuorusciti_. It was now, in 1270, reduced by the French soldiery of
Montfort, aided by the Florentines and Sangimignanesi. The splendid
castle, which Giovanni Villani calls the strongest and most beautiful in
Italy, and of which we still see the remains rising above the modern
town, was razed to the ground, and the inhabitants were forced to
descend from the hill into the plain. King Charles put the work of
destruction into the hands of the Sangimignanesi and made over a portion
of the territory of the "rebellious" castle to them, the rest to the
Florentines. Henceforth San Gimignano adhered to the Guelf League of
Tuscany, sent armed men to take part in its wars, and did a little
independent fighting with the Bishop of Volterra. The small Commune
began to have a voice in the counsels of Tuscany. In August 1276, the
Sienese sent for peacemakers from San Gimignano, and the Podestà,
Fantone de' Rossi of Florence, with two of the citizens went at their
request, "for the utility of that City and for the honour of this
Commune."
This was, indeed, the golden age of San Gimignano, from about 1270 to
about 1320. According to Pecori, the population of the _terra_ and
contado together amounted to about 16,000 in the fourteenth century. The
internal government grew more democratic, more definitely Guelf. Instead
of the twelve captains and rectors, it was now ruled by the _Otto delle
Spese_ with the four _Capitani di Parte Guelfa_, and the usual
_credenza_ and General Council. In 1301 these Eight were increased to
Nine, the "Nine Governors and Defenders of the Town," whose term of
office (like that of the Priors of Florence and the Nine of Siena) was
two months. With the Nine was associated a _giunta_ of twenty-four. The
Podestà was publicly elected in front of the Pieve or Collegiata. All
the magistrates assembled, and the Captains of the Parte Guelfa
determined two cities from which he should be chosen. Then they drew by
lot twelve councillors, each of whom nominated two knights from each of
the two cities. They balloted for these, took the names of the eight who
had received most votes, and wrote them on two tickets, four on each,
which were inclosed in wax and put into a vessel of water. A child drew
out one for the first six months, leaving the other for the second. Then
the four names were similarly inclosed in four other wax globules, the
child drew again, and the first name that came out was that of the
Podestà for the next six months. The names on the second ticket,
carefully inclosed in wax, were put into the custody of the Friars Minor
until, at the appointed time, they were brought to the General Council
and the same process repeated for the Podestà of the second six
months.[178] And, indeed, the Podestà of San Gimignano had no easy task;
the factions continued their aimless and deadly course, the Pellari
leading the Guelfs and the Salvucci the Ghibellines, until in May 1298,
the Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta came to the place and patched up a
peace, which was solemnly celebrated in the Piazza.
In the following year, 1299, died San Bartolo, the Father Damian of the
Middle Ages. He was the son of Giovanni Buonpedoni, Count of Mucchio in
the Sangimignanese contado. At an early age he entered the Church,
tended the sick at Pisa, served as a simple parish priest at Peccioli
and Picchena, and at length devoted the last twenty years of his life to
the service of the lepers in the leper hospital, the Leprosario of
Cellole. Here he fell a victim to his heroic self-sacrifice, and
suffered so terribly that he was called the Job of Tuscany. By his own
last wish, he was buried in Sant' Agostino, where, two centuries later,
the art of Benedetto da Maiano raised the noble monument we now see.
The day in this epoch that has made most impression upon the imagination
of posterity, probably created comparatively little excitement at the
time. It was only one of many similar embassies from the allied cities
of the Guelf League that came to the gate of San Gimignano on that May
morning of the year of Jubilee, 1300;[179] but the young burgher who
rode in, with trumpeters and others whose coats were emblazoned with the
red lily, was no other than Dante Alighieri, come as ambassador of
Florence to announce that a parliament was to be held for the purpose
of electing a captain for the Guelf League of Tuscany, and to invite the
Commune of San Gimignano to send representatives. The great new Palace
of the Commune was then just finished, and the Tower barely begun. There
was much Guelf fervour in San Gimignano in this year, the Podestà
ordaining that, to avoid disorder and faction, every one should solemnly
declare himself Guelf or Ghibelline, and that the Captains of the Party
should raise a guard of six hundred men, half from the _terra_ and half
from the contado, for the custody of the town, to appear ready in arms
at the sound of the bell. As we might have anticipated, when the Guelfs
split into Blacks and Whites, San Gimignano was "black," and in 1305
sent men to the siege of Pistoia.
A fierce war, on a large scale for two such small states, broke out in
1308 between San Gimignano and Volterra. There were no serious battles,
but much harrying of the country and burning on both sides, and it was
only ended by the intervention of Florence, Siena and Lucca. On the
advent of Henry of Luxemburg, the Sangimignanesi sent men to aid King
Robert and the Florentines. The Emperor came to Poggibonsi, from which
he sentenced San Gimignano to pay a fine, and its walls and towers to be
destroyed. Naturally, it was a mere idle threat.
This was the epoch in which the poet of San Gimignano, Messer Folgore,
flourished. As we have seen, his principal work is associated with
Siena; but there is a second series of sonnets, eight in number, for the
different days of the week, which is more connected with his native
city. They are dedicated to the Florentine, Carlo di Messer Guerra
Cavicciuoli, who had served San Gimignano as condottiere in the war
against Volterra. A more strenuous and virile note is struck here than
in the better-known Sienese series for the months, in as much as,
amidst the singing and love-making, the feasting and jousting, hunting
and hawking, there is at least one day of genuine fighting to be done:--
"To a new world on Tuesday shifts my song,
Where beat of drum is heard, and trumpet-blast;
Where footmen armed and horsemen armed go past,
And bells say ding to bells that answer dong;
Where he the first and after him the throng,
Armed all of them with coats and hoods of steel,
Shall see their foes and make their foes to feel,
And so in wrack and rout drive them along."[180]
For the rest, Folgore was a furious Guelf, and when his party was
crushed by Uguccione della Faggiuola, on the tremendous day of
Montecatini in 1315, he hurled his defiance at God Himself:--"I praise
Thee not, O God, nor adore Thee; I pray not to Thee, and I thank Thee
not; and I serve Thee not, for I am more sick of it than are the souls
of being in Purgatory. For Thou hast put the Guelfs to such torment that
the Ghibellines mock us and harrow us, and, if Uguccione demanded duty
from Thee, Thou wouldst pay it readily."[181]
In 1319 two brothers of the Baroncetti, Messer Tribaldo and Fresco,
conspired to make the first-named despot of the town. He was a leader of
the Guelfs, potent in their councils, lavish with his money. With their
allies and friends the two attempted to surprise the Palace; but the
people rose in arms and drove them from the town; they were sentenced to
perpetual banishment and their goods confiscated. "There was a knight of
the Baroncetti," writes Fra Matteo Ciaccheri in his rhymed chronicle,
"and he was a mighty man: Messer Tribaldo was his name. He sought by
every way and means to become lord of all, and to make himself fine with
the noble mantle. Therefore was he hunted out with great fury, and
Messer Fresco, for they were brothers: for all the town rose in
tumult."[182] After this the Captain of the People, whose office had
hitherto been frequently held by the Podestà, became more important, and
the special council over which he presided was limited to _popolani_.
Guards were continually kept on the Tower of the Podestà and the Tower
of the People; chains were made for the streets and gates, and special
custodians of them appointed for each of the four contrade. But the
factions grew more and more embittered, and the days of the little
Republic were numbered.
Led by the Ardinghelli, the _fuorusciti_ were ravaging the contado, when
in 1332 the Sangimignanesi, headed by their Podestà, Messer Piero di
Duccio Saracini of Siena, took and burned Camporbiano, which had
sheltered them. But Camporbiano was in the contado of Florence. The
Florentines instantly summoned the Podestà and the leaders of the
expedition to appear before them, and, when they did not appear,
condemned the Commune of San Gimignano to pay a heavy fine, and their
Podestà, with one hundred and forty-eight men of the town, to be burned
alive. When the Florentine troops were actually on the march, the
Sangimignanesi begged pardon, and threw themselves on the mercy of the
Commune and People of Florence, who forgave them fairly magnanimously,
on the condition of taking back the exiles and making good the damage
that they had done to Camporbiano, according to the valuation of the men
of the latter place themselves and of the Florentine ambassadors. After
this, the Florentines soon began to treat San Gimignano as a vassal
State, demanding soldiers and tributes, forcing its councils to ratify
their corrections of the statutes. When the Duke of Athens made himself
lord of Florence in 1342, the Ardinghelli (who had been expelled again)
attempted in the night to surprise the town, with the aid of the ducal
forces, at the Porta della Fonte. The attempt failed, but in the
following February the Commune was forced to submit to the Duke, who
began to build a castle to secure his hold. A few months later, on his
fall, it was razed to the ground and his adherents expelled. Again the
Ardinghelli, led by Primerano and Francesco, in secret understanding
with their friends within, attempted to get possession of the town, and
again they were unsuccessful. Civil war now broke out in the contado,
and in 1346 the Ardinghelli, with a strong force of armed men collected
from all quarters, again assailed the walls. At last, by the
intervention of the Florentines, a peace was patched up, and the
Ardinghelli returned.
Broken in spirit by the pestilence of 1348, hopelessly in debt to the
banking houses of Florence and with factions still devastating the town,
in the spring of 1349 the Commune of San Gimignano was compelled to
surrender the custody and government of the State to the Florentines for
three years, with the conditions that the Commune of Florence should
every six months send a _cittadino popolano_ from Florence as Captain of
the Guard and another as Podestà (the latter, however, elected by the
Sangimignanesi themselves), and that the citizens of San Gimignano
should be declared true and lawful citizens of Florence, with the same
rights and privileges as the Florentines.
The mutual hatred of the Ardinghelli and the Salvucci now blazed out
afresh. Temporarily allayed by the appearance of some three hundred
Florentine cavalry in the town, it came to a head in 1352. In a street
brawl, a certain Ser Ilario struck Michele di Pietro, one of the Nine;
Rossellino di Messer Gualtieri degli Ardinghelli (the brother of the
Primerano already mentioned), who was present, was made responsible and
fined. The Salvucci declared that Bartolommeo Altoviti, who was Captain
of the town for the Florentines, had favoured Rossellino, and contrived
that he should be succeeded by Benedetto di Giovanni Strozzi. Benedetto
was easily convinced by them that Rossellino and Primerano were plotting
with Altoviti against him. He promptly arrested the two brothers, "young
men of great expectation and following," says Matteo Villani, "and
Guelfs by disposition and birth," and imprisoned them. They threw a
letter out of their prison tower, calling upon their friends to deliver
them. It fell into the hands of the Captain, who, impelled "either by
zeal of his office or by his own evil disposition or by the instigation
of the Salvucci, their enemies," determined to put them to death. The
Commune of Florence, believing them innocent, sent an express command to
Benedetto that he should not take their lives: but the Elsa had risen in
flood, and the messengers could not pass that night. The Captain,
hearing that they were on the way, hurried on the execution; on August
9th, he had the two young nobles publicly beheaded in the Piazza at the
foot of the steps of the Palace, together with the supposed accomplice
to whom they had written the fatal letter.
Thirsting for vengeance, the Ardinghelli, on December 20th, introduced
the soldiery of the lords of Picchena and of the exiled Rossi of
Florence into the town by the Porta di Quercecchio. Followed by the
majority of the people, they assailed the houses of the Salvucci, who
were taken by surprise and made little resistance, drove them out of the
place, sacked and burned their palaces and those of their adherents, and
occupied the town for themselves. On Christmas Day, the Salvucci and
their friends appeared in Florence, demanding the aid of the Commune
under whose guardianship (they said) they had been thus robbed and
maltreated. On the other side the Ardinghelli, in the name and with the
authority of the Commune of San Gimignano, sent ambassadors, declaring
that they had driven out the Ghibellines and would hold the town in
honour of the Commune of Florence and of the Parte Guelfa. In February,
the Florentines sent their Podestà, Paolo Vaiani of Rome, with a strong
force of horse and foot, to restore order. Reaching the town and
receiving no answer to their summons, they set their camp in hostile
array and began to waste the country; but none sallied out nor made any
resistance. Then the people forced the Ardinghelli to surrender. It was
agreed that the Florentines should make peace between them and the
exiles, should have the custody of the town for five more years, and
should keep a Captain of the Guard there with seventy-five horsemen at
the cost of the inhabitants, and that the Salvucci should return after
six months. But the lords of Picchena having made no apology to Florence
for their share in the matter, the Florentines in June destroyed their
walls and fortress, "in order that this castle might no more be the
cause of San Gimignano and Colle being stirred up to any
rebellion."[183]
Very striking is the last, piteous appeal of Fra Matteo Ciaccheri to his
countrymen, to let the dead rest and save San Gimignano before it is too
late:--
"Among the castles it is the very flower, and we are destroying it with
all our might. It is the will of God, our Lord, that it should come to
nought for our sin; within my heart I feel bitter grief thereat! Each of
us has been hunted out, because we have turned to these factions, and we
have been slain and burned and taken and robbed. For God's sake, let us
let the past be past, and each one strive to be a good brother, and look
upon each other with kindly eyes. And so shall we save this noble jewel,
which doth ever move my heart with love, so delightful and beauteous it
seemeth to me."[184]
But all efforts were useless. The Salvucci and the Ardinghelli would
have no dealings with each other, "and they kept all the town in gloom."
Each house longed to be avenged on the other and opposed the other at
every turn. At length the Ardinghelli, being poorer and weaker than the
Salvucci, decided to anticipate their enemies and to urge the people to
make a complete and perpetual surrender to the Commune of Florence. In
spite of the protests of the Salvucci, this was decided in a general
Parliament in July, 1353. The Salvucci had potent friends in Florence,
whom they stirred up to get the submission rejected, on the grounds that
it was not the will of the people of San Gimignano themselves, but the
work of a faction. The Signoria declared that they "only desired the
love and the goodwill of all the Commune, and not the lordship of that
town in division of the people." Then two hundred and fifty of the chief
men of San Gimignano appeared before the Priors and Gonfaloniere of
Florence, assuring them that it was the will of all their people, whose
only hope of salvation lay in being accepted by the Florentines. Hearing
this, the Signoria formally proposed to the Council of the People of
Florence that the surrender should be accepted; but such was still the
influence of the Salvucci that it was barely carried. "That which every
one should have desired, as a great and honourable acquisition for his
native land," says Matteo Villani, "found so many opposed to it in the
secret balloting, that it was only carried by one black bean. I am
ashamed to have written it, so infamous was it of my fellow citizens.
The motion being carried, the _terra_ of the noble castle of San
Gimignano and its contado and district became part of the contado of the
Commune of Florence."[185]
[Illustration:
_Lombardi, Siena_
IN THE TOWN OF THE FAIR TOWERS]
There was a great display of confidence and magnanimity on either side.
The Sangimignanesi sent a blank sheet of parchment with their seal to
Florence, for the conditions of their submission. The Florentines
crossed it and sent it back with two other blank sheets, for the
Sangimignanesi to fill up as they pleased. Finally, on August 11th,
1353, the terms were arranged in the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence. They
were, remarks Pecori, "most honourable terms, alike for those who
dictated and those who received them." And this is true, so far as
everything connected with the taxes and with the local statutes and
customs of the place are concerned; and all of the _terra_ and contado,
except the "magnates, or those that are considered such by the statutes
of the said town," are to be "in perpetuity, verily and originally, of
the contado and of the people, _popolani_ of Florence." One of the
articles stipulates that "all the artisans of San Gimignano, who shall
wish to be admitted to the matriculation of any Art in Florence, can be
received gratuitously by the respective consuls; it being expressly
stated that it is lawful to each one of that town to exercise his own
art there freely, notwithstanding the ordinances of the Arts of
Florence." But, in San Gimignano itself, there is to be a Florentine
Podestà with full jurisdiction and power, according to the statutes of
the _terra_ itself, and further, an unmistakable note of servitude, it
is stipulated "that in the Terra of San Gimignano there be constructed a
fortress, at the expense of this Commune, in the place that shall be
determined by the commissaries of the Signoria of Florence."[186]
Thus ended the independence of San Gimignano, after a period of a
century and a half. As long as the great Republic into whose hands they
had fallen lasted, the Sangimignanesi kept up some sort of appearance
of communal liberty, and were even allowed to send ambassadors and treat
with the other communes of Tuscany on their own account--in small
matters of commerce and boundaries. The nine Governors and Defenders of
the Town became the eight Priors (reduced to six in 1390) and the
Gonfaloniere of Justice, after the Florentine model. When the Podestà
entered upon his term of office, he came out in state upon the steps of
the Palace, presented the letters of the Signoria of Florence to the
assembled people, took the oath and received from the Gonfaloniere the
baton of command and the keys of the town. In like fashion the Priors
and the Captains of the Parte Guelfa entered upon their terms of office
with great pomp, always magnificently attired; the great banner and the
seal of the Commune were still solemnly consigned to the crimson-robed
Gonfaloniere; and in public ceremonies the magistrates were accompanied
by young squires with trumpets, robed in red and yellow, the colours of
the Commune, with black caps and green cloaks emblazoned with the arms
of San Gimignano in silver. Down to the eighteenth century, San
Gimignano was famous for the magnificence of its municipal functions.
Until the end of the fourteenth century, painting in San Gimignano
appears to have been exclusively practised by Sienese masters. In the
fifteenth century it was exclusively Florentine. At the end of this
century, San Gimignano produced two excellent painters of its own,
though neither of them in the front rank. Sebastiano Mainardi (died in
1513) became the favourite pupil of Domenico Ghirlandaio, whose sister
Alessandra he married; he was a diligent artist, who followed his master
with ability, and frequently worked from his designs. Vincenzo di
Bernardo Tamagni (1492-1533) worked under Raphael in the Vatican, and
imitated his style with considerable success. Vasari praises his soft
colouring and the beauty of his figures. His life appears to have been
unfortunate. In 1511 Bazzi had him imprisoned for debt in the prison of
the Podestà of Montalcino, and in 1527 he was ruined in the sack of
Rome, after which, says Vasari, "he lived on, in little happiness."
Bernardo Poccetti (1542-1612), by whom there is much second-rate fresco
painting in Florence, was also a native of San Gimignano.
At least one Sangimignanese in the days of the Renaissance acquired an
European reputation. Filippo de' Buonaccorsi was born here in 1437, of
an old and noble family. He was one of the humanists who flocked to Rome
in the days of Pius II. Here he was associated with Pomponius Laetus in
the founding of the famous Academy, and took the name of Callimachus,
which was supposed to be the classical equivalent of Buonaccorsi. He was
a leader in the real or fictitious plot against Paul II., of which
Platina gives us so vivid a picture in his life of that Pontiff, and
saved himself by flight. Later on, he made his way to Poland, where King
Casimir IV. made him tutor to his sons and one of his secretaries, and
frequently sent him on embassies. When Casimir's son, John Albert,
succeeded to the throne in 1492, Filippo became his chief minister and
adviser, and is said to have counselled the King to resist the nobles
and aim at despotic power. He died at Cracow in 1496, leaving a number
of works in Latin, dealing with the history of Poland and Hungary. On
one occasion, when on his way to Rome as ambassador from King Casimir to
Pope Innocent VIII., Buonaccorsi passed through San Gimignano. He
received a pompous reception from the Commune, in order that others, his
fellow-citizens, might be encouraged to follow in his footsteps.
CHAPTER XII
_In the Town of the Beautiful Towers_
San Gimignano is still surrounded by its second circuit of walls, built
to inclose the Castello Nuovo at the end of the twelfth or beginning of
the thirteenth century. The five massive towers that strengthen the
walls were raised by the Florentines in the fifteenth century, and the
whole town is surmounted by the Florentine castle, the Rocca di
Montestaffoli. The three main gates have been preserved; the Porta San
Matteo to the north, the Porta San Giovanni to the south, the Porta
della Fonte to the east; and there is a smaller portal to the west,
below the Rocca, the Porta di Quercecchio. And portions even remain of
the first ancient circuit of walls that, during the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, inclosed the Castello Vecchio; especially two massive
_portoni_ in the chief street where the two chief gates stood, known as
the Arco della Cancelleria and the Arco de' Becci or de' Talei,
respectively. Even in 1355, Fra Matteo Ciaccheri could write of "the
great ruin of the towers, of which many I see destroyed." At present,
only thirteen of these towers are standing.
Until the great pestilence of 1348, San Gimignano was divided into four
contrade: the contrade of the Castello, of the Piazza, of San Matteo and
of San Giovanni. After 1348, it was divided into thirds, the contrade of
the Castello and Piazza being made one. In the sixteenth century these
three were further reduced to two, as at present; the Contrada di San
Matteo and the Contrada di San Giovanni.
The centre of interest in the town is the former Piazza della Pieve, the
historical scene of all the great State functions of the Republic, now
called the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. Here are the Collegiata or Pieve
(sometimes, but incorrectly, styled the Duomo[187]), the Palazzo del
Popolo or Palazzo Comunale (sometimes called the new Palazzo del
Podestà), and the old Palazzo del Podestà.
The Collegiata, or Pieve, was originally built in the eleventh century
and modified in the fourteenth, the stone columns of the nave with their
curiously worked capitals and part of the exterior belonging to the
earlier epoch. But, in 1466, Giuliano da Maiano came to the place and
designed the new choir and chapels, with the result that the church is a
peculiar combination of Romanesque and early Renaissance architecture.
The walls of the aisles and between the two doors are a mass of glowing
fresco painting, illustrating the whole story of Sienese art daring that
epoch that intervened between the deaths of the Lorenzetti and the rise
of the great painters (practically the scholars of Taddeo di Bartolo) of
the Quattrocento--but presently yielding, like San Gimignano itself, to
the Florentines. On the left, in three parallel series, are scenes from
the Old Testament by Bartolo di Fredi, finished in 1356; the Creation
and Expulsion from Paradise, Cain and Abel, the story of Noah, Abraham
and Lot, the stories of Joseph, Moses, and Job. They impress us by their
naiveté, the charm and grace with which the Sienese tell a story; note
the delightful realism in the Building of the Ark, the beautiful group
of women and children on the altogether impossible beasts intended for
camels in the Crossing of the Red Sea. On the right are scenes from the
New Testament, the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the
Crucifixion; the later scenes have been destroyed (in the sixteenth
century) to make room for the orchestra, but we can just see the remains
of the Descent into Hades and the Ascension. They were begun by Barna of
Siena, who fell from his scaffolding here and was killed in 1380, and
finished by his pupil Giovanni da Asciano. Though of no surpassing
merit, the scenes are well composed, in accordance with the usual
tradition, and the painter has caught enough of Duccio's spirit for the
sacred stories to receive fairly adequate illustration for devotional
purposes. The whole scheme of decoration of the aisles and nave is to
set forth the entire creed of mediaeval Christianity, in accordance with
which we see on either side of the window of the right aisle (below
which is a memorial tablet to Barna) the peacocks, the emblems of the
Resurrection. Round the central window is what completes the whole tale
of human life, from this point of view: the Last Judgment, painted by
Taddeo di Bartolo in 1393. It is a mere variation of the usual mediaeval
composition; Christ is enthroned as Judge, with Angels bearing trumpets
and the emblems of the Passion, the Madonna and Baptist kneeling on
either side as representing Divine Mercy and Divine Justice
respectively; lower down are Enoch and Elijah as assessors, while the
twelve Apostles are seated below the window. At the sides, to right and
left of the Judge, are Heaven and Hell. Christ and His Mother are seen
in the Empyrean, with Angels and Saints in the fruition of the Beatific
Vision. The Hell is disgusting and vile, even beyond the usual fashion
of these representations. Those who can endure it, will be able to work
through its revolting details with the aid of the scrolls, and will be
interested to note how certain Dantesque motives (the punishment of the
panders and seducers is a good instance) have become coarsened and
brutalised by the feebler imagination or provincial taste of the Sienese
painter or his Sangimignanese employers.
After the pestilence of 1348, it was decreed that an altar should be
built, between the two doors of the Pieve, in honour of St Fabian and St
Sebastian, to put the survivors under their protection. The fresco that
we now see in that place, under Taddeo's Last Judgment, by Benozzo
Gozzoli, commemorates the pestilence of 1464, and was ordered by Fra
Domenico Strambi, an Augustinian monk, who was regarded as the great
theological light in San Gimignano in the latter part of the fifteenth
century, and to whom many of the artistic monuments of the town are due.
He had been sent to study theology in Paris, partly at the cost of the
Commune, in 1454, and received a State welcome on his return. Benozzo,
as the inscription states, finished the work, "to the praise of the most
glorious athlete, St Sebastian," in January 1465 (that is, according to
our modern reckoning, 1466). The Saint himself is impassive and stolid,
though his body is a mass of arrows; the group of Florentines who seem
practising archery, on our left, is the most satisfactory part of the
fresco. Angels crown the martyr, Christ and the Madonna appear to him in
glory above the clouds. In the frieze we see St Geminianus above with
the model of his town, and, in the corners below, Bartolo and Fina. The
Eternal Father with the Dove and the beautiful group of Angels
(completing the scene of the Annunciation, with the two wooden statues
of Mary and Gabriel by a Sienese sculptor of the preceding century) are
also by Benozzo. His, too, are the Assumption on the left, the St
Antony and four Saints on the pilasters. The Patriarchs opposite the
scenes from the Old Testament, the medallions of the Apostles between
the arches, the Christ above the steps to the choir, are by the priest,
Pier Francesco Fiorentino, that curiously unprogressive painter of the
latter part of the fifteenth century, whose works abound here and in the
neighbourhood.[188]
At the end of the right aisle is the shrine of Santa Fina. The chapel is
a perfect gem of later fifteenth century art; architecture, sculpture
and painting are blended to form a plastic poem even more harmonious
than that of the more strenuous virgin of Siena in San Domenico. It was
designed by Giuliano da Maiano in 1468; the shrine itself, in pure white
and gold, was executed by Giuliano's brother, Benedetto, in 1475. It is
not quite as the sculptor left it. Above the sarcophagus are the Madonna
and Child in a glory of cherubs with two Angels; underneath them are
scenes from Fina's life in relief; her vision of St Gregory, her
funeral, her appearing to heal a sick woman. These predella scenes were
originally below, the present base of cherubs' heads and sacramental
cups being more modern. Below, on either side of the tabernacle, are
four Angels in niches, and two more (isolated statues) kneel with vases
of flowers on either side of the altar. Upon the sarcophagus, with
curious naked genii in the spirit of the Renaissance, is the
inscription:--
"Virginis ossa latent tumulo quem suspicis, hospes.
Haec decus, exemplum, praesidiumque suis.
Nomen Fina fuit; patria haec; miracula quaeris?
Perlege quae paries vivaque signa docent."[189]
[Illustration:
_Alinari, Florence_
THE FUNERAL OF SANTA FINA
(DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO)]
And it is dated MCCCCLXXV. All round the chapel runs a frieze of
cherubs' heads. In two large lunettes on either side are two admirable
frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio, which have a freshness and simplicity
that we hardly find elsewhere in his work. On the right is the bare,
poverty-stricken room where Fina lies on her plank, which has already
begun to break out into flowers beneath her. Her faithful nurse Beldi
supports her head with the hand that, according to the legend, caught
the disease, and another woman is seated by her; both are peasant types,
in the dress of peasants at the painter's own day. They do not see the
sudden vision of St Gregory in his glory, that sheds its splendour over
the humble chamber, but they gaze up because of Fina's rapt face. Above,
the Angels are carrying her soul up to Paradise. Opposite is the
funeral, a picture full of those splendid Florentine portrait heads that
Domenico painted so well. Fina has just placed her dead hand upon that
of her nurse, and thereby cured her; Bishop Ranieri of Volterra, who had
a few months back reconciled the conflicting factions of the town, is
reading the office for the dead. In the background are the towers of San
Gimignano, and the Angels are ringing the bells. These two frescoes
appear to be very early works of the painter, who had probably been
introduced to the Operaio of the Collegiata by either the architect or
sculptor.[190] The Prophets and Saints in the angles and round the
windows, the Evangelists on the ceiling are the work of Sebastiano
Mainardi.
In the choir is a Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels, signed by
Benozzo Gozzoli, and dated 1466. How stiff and archaic it seems by
comparison with its neighbour, the Coronation of the Madonna by Pietro
Pollaiuolo, signed and dated 1483, one of the pictures commissioned by
Fra Domenico Strambi! Instead of Benozzo's heavy gold haloes in which
the names of the saints are inscribed (a characteristic which he
borrowed from his master Angelico), Pietro reduces this emblem of
sanctity to an almost imperceptible thin ring of gold and makes their
human side predominant. There is a certain harshness about Pollaiuolo's
picture; Christ and the Madonna are unattractive types, and there is an
excessive display of anatomical knowledge; but the admirable heads and
powerfully modelled figures of the six saints--Geminianus and Bartolo
(the two central figures), Augustine and Jerome, Fina and Nicholas of
Tolentino--are unsurpassable in their way. The head of San Bartolo,
especially, is a magnificent piece of painting. The beautiful mitres of
Augustine and Geminianus on the ground show that the painter was also a
goldsmith. On the left is a somewhat Raffaelesque Madonna and Child with
Saints, one of the best works of Vincenzo Tamagni; the black monk
kneeling in front is not Aquinas (as might be supposed from his
attributes), but Nicholas of Tolentino who is much honoured in this
town. The choir stalls date from 1490, and there are some illuminated
choir books, one of them with ten excellent miniatures ascribed to
Niccolò di Ser Sozzo Tegliacci, whose masterpiece in this kind we have
seen at Siena.
San Gimignano was the first town in Italy to listen to the teaching of
Fra Girolamo Savonarola, while Florence still rejected him. He preached
the Lents of 1484 and 1485 in this very church. It was here that he
first uttered the words of threefold prophecy that were soon to echo
through the world. There was to be a renovation of the Church; but,
first, the scourge of God would fall upon her and upon Italy; and these
things would come speedily. Can we not imagine his eyes resting on
Taddeo's Last Judgment at the end of the church, when he first mounted
the pulpit, thrust back his cowl, and gazed round upon the assembled
people?
In the sacristy there is an admirable bust, by Benedetto da Maiano, of
Onofrio di Pietro, the Operaio of the Collegiata under whose
superintendence the building was restored and the shrine of Santa Fina
constructed; he died in 1488. The marble ciborium is also by Benedetto.
A Madonna and Child with six Saints by Sebastiano Mainardi does not show
that painter at his best. Out of the left aisle opens the chapel of San
Giovanni, with a frescoed Annunciation of 1482, probably executed by
Mainardi from the design of Ghirlandaio, and an old baptismal font
(still used) made by Giovanni Cecchi of Siena in 1379 at the expense of
the Arte della Lana, with quaint bas-reliefs of the Baptism of Christ,
Angels and the _Agnus Dei_ of the Guild. This same Guild, together with
the Commune, had previously borne the cost of Bartolo di Fredi's
frescoes. There is a cloister attached to the Pieve with a few remains
of frescoes, one of which--a Pietà--is ascribed by Mr Berenson to Pier
Francesco Fiorentino.
At the side of the Collegiata is the Palazzo Comunale or Palazzo del
Popolo, which was begun in 1288. Its great tower, the Torre del Comune,
was begun in 1300 and finished about 1311, when the bell of the Commune
was placed there. The palace is sometimes called the new Palazzo del
Podestà, because after 1353 the Florentine Podestà resided here. The
steps lead up to the platform upon which the Podestà stood when he
presented his credentials and received the baton and keys from the
Gonfaloniere, and it was at its steps that the two Ardinghelli had been
beheaded in 1352. There is a picturesque court, with fragments of
frescoes and armorial bearings, and a well of 1360. To the right of the
court is what was once the Cappella delle Carceri. Opposite the door is
a fresco of the Madonna and Child enthroned, with St Geminianus and
another bishop, of the school of Taddeo di Bartolo. By Bazzi (hastily
executed and much repainted) are frescoes in chiaroscuro, representing
St Ivo, the just young judge, administering justice to the poor and
helpless, and, at the foot of the stairs, a magistrate seated between
Truth and Prudence, trampling upon the Lie.
In the Sala del Consiglio, the councils of the Commune met in the
fourteenth century, and it was here that Dante, on May 7th, 1300, spoke
on behalf of the Guelf League of Tuscany. Here are remains of remarkable
frescoes painted in 1292, and which he must therefore have seen; they
represent hunting scenes and jousting, knights dashing against each
other with swords and lances in the regular Arthurian style, a centaur
slaying a hydra, Scolaio Ardinghelli arbitrating between the Commune and
the clergy. This latter scene refers to a great dispute that began in
1290 between the Commune and the clergy of the town, concerning tithes
and taxes. When the Bishop of Volterra put the place under the
interdict, the people broke down the doors of the Pieve and had Mass
celebrated there in spite of him, upon which the Proposto and his clergy
left, carrying off the pictures and other treasures of the church with
them. Pope Nicholas IV. intervened, and at last the matter was referred
to Scolaio Ardinghelli, a prelate high in favour with the Pope, who in
April 1292 decided in favour of the Commune. The picture was ordered by
the latter in the same year. The rest of the frescoes were destroyed to
make way for the large fresco by Lippo
[Illustration: A GROUP OF CHORISTERS
Detail from the Funeral of Santa Fina. (DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO)]
Memmi, painted in 1317 in imitation of the work his brother-in-law had
just completed in Siena, representing the Blessed Virgin and her Son
enthroned and surrounded by the celestial court of Saints and Angels,
while Messer Nello di Mino Tolomei of Siena, podestà and captain of the
Commune and People of San Gimignano, kneels at her feet under the
patronage of St Nicholas. In his rhymed chronicle, Fra Matteo deals
somewhat hardly with this dignified magistrate, calling him the ruin of
the town, _disfacimento di San Gimignano_, accusing him of stirring up
the people. The fresco was restored by Benozzo Gozzoli in 1467, who
painted the four saints at the sides.
The Pinacoteca, on the third floor of the Palace, contains some
excellent works. The more important are the following:--A triptych by
Taddeo di Bartolo, the Madonna and Child with Saints, the Annunciation,
Christ blessing with St Peter and St Paul above; the Madonna and Child,
with the Baptist and St Francis, St Gregory and Santa Fina (the latter
very sweet and golden-haired, with her flowers), a good Florentine work
of the school of Benozzo Gozzoli; St Bartholomew with scenes from his
martyrdom, by Lorenzo di Niccolò of Florence, dated 1401; two little
panels with four miracles of Santa Fina, probably by the last-named
painter; St Geminianus enthroned with a model of the town, with eight
scenes of his miracles, including his appearance on the walls of San
Gimignano to drive back Attila, by Taddeo di Bartolo; a triptych, by an
unknown painter of the Quattrocento, representing St Julian with St
Antony and St Martin, on either side of which are little pictures of
Santa Fina and St Gregory, perhaps by Lorenzo di Niccolò; a Madonna and
Child with two Saints (restored), by Pier Francesco Fiorentino; two
excellent _tondi_ by Sebastiano Mainardi. At the end of the room are the
two chief treasures of the collection. The Madonna alone in a glory of
Cherubs, with a pope and an abbot kneeling in adoration in a beautiful
landscape, is one of the finest of Pinturicchio's works, in colour and
in expression; it was painted for the convent of the Olivetani outside
the Porta San Giovanni. On either side of it are two _tondi_
representing the Annunciation, in beautiful old frames; these were
commissioned by the Commune in 1482, and, though in colour and form they
curiously approach Botticelli, appear to be early works of Filippino
Lippi. M. Paul Bourget especially admires the Gabriel, "un Ange
annonciateur au profil douloureusement extatique, aux mains blanches et
fines dans leur longueur." There is also an altar-piece by Fra Paolino
da Pistoia, which may possibly have been painted by him from a design of
Fra Bartolommeo's, but is very poor in execution. There are several
frescoes ascribed to Pier Francesco Fiorentino in other rooms of the
Palace.
Opposite the Collegiata is the old Palazzo del Podestà, where that
magistrate resided until San Gimignano surrendered to Florence. It was
built in the thirteenth and enlarged early in the fourteenth century.
There is some antique iron work, including a fine _fanale_, on the
façade, and in the Loggia are the remains of a fresco painted by Bazzi
in 1513. Its tall tower, only slightly lower than that of the Torre del
Comune, originally called the Rognosa and, after 1407, the Torre dell'
Orologio, marked the limit to which noble citizens might build their
private towers. When at nightfall its bell, those of the Pieve and the
more sonorous one of the Commune answer each other, the Sangimignanesi
assure me that the sound can be heard in Florence. The tower near it is
that of the Savorelli.
Adjacent to the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele is the Piazza Cavour, formerly
called the Piazza della Cisterna from the old octagonal well of 1273
that still adorns it. On the left is the imposing Torre Pratellesi,
originally the tower of the Palazzo Paltoncini in which the Podestà
occasionally held his court in the first half of the thirteenth century.
Opposite to it, is the tasteful little Gothic brick Palazzo Friani, a
restored structure of the fourteenth century. Here is the tall,
grass-grown Torre Cinatti, one of the most characteristic of the noble
towers of the town. The two dismantled towers on the right are the
remains of the palace of the Ardinghelli, in which the councils of the
Commune met occasionally in the thirteenth century. At the corner of the
Piazza is the Portone de' Beccie Cugnanesi, or Arco dei Talei, of the
original circuit of walls before the end of the twelfth century, to the
right of which is the picturesque Vicolo de' Becci, ending under a
massive arch with one of those quaintly picturesque views that make the
town an artistic delight at every turn.
Between the Via San Matteo and the Piazza dell' Erbe are remains of a
large palace, with two very tall twin towers. This appears to have been
the Palazzo Salvucci,[191] the towers still showing traces of the fires
kindled round them by the vengeful Ardinghelli. Opposite them, in the
Via San Matteo, is the Torre Pettini. Thence we pass under a massive
double arch, the Arco della Cancelleria or Portone di San Matteo, of the
first circuit of walls. On our right are the Library and small Dante
Museum, the latter inaugurated on the sixth centenary of Dante's embassy
to the town. A little further on, the church of San Bartolo has a
picturesque façade of the eleventh century. Beyond is the great palace
tower of the Pesciolini (according to a quite unhistorical tradition
once the residence of Desiderio, King of the Lombards), in the style of
the fourteenth century. The basement of what was once a palace, on the
left, has decorative frescoes of the school of Poccetti. At the Porta
San Matteo, we turn down the little lane within the walls to the Piazza
Sant' Agostino.
The church of Sant' Agostino was built between 1280 and 1299. It was
consecrated by the Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta--a short while before
that very unsatisfactory prelate's attempt to make peace in Florence
while Dante sat in the priorate. On the right of the principal entrance
is the chapel of San Bartolo, constructed in 1494 by order of the
Commune. The tomb itself is the work of Benedetto da Maiano and his
pupils, but hardly equal to the one that Benedetto had made for Fina.
The _tondo_ of the Madonna and Child, in which the Mother is guiding the
Infant's little hand to bless the people, is most exquisite, and
probably it (with, perhaps, the three theological virtues) is the only
part executed by the master himself. The three Saints on the wall, the
four Doctors on the ceiling were painted by Sebastiano Mainardi. The
picture over the next altar, of the same year 1494, the Madonna and
Child, with many Saints and a tiny little Dominican friar as donor, is
one of the best works of Pier Francesco Fiorentino. The frescoed Pietà
above is ascribed to Vincenzo Tamagni. Then comes one of those curious
symbolical representations of the Passion, which Don Lorenzo and Fra
Angelico had made traditional. The second altar, dedicated to St
Nicholas of Tolentino, has frescoes of 1529 by Vincenzo Tamagni,
representing the Madonna and Child with Angels, St Nicholas of Tolentino
and St Rock, St Antony the abbot and St Paul the first hermit. At the
first altar on the left, the chapel of the Crocifisso, are more frescoes
by Tamagni; kneeling opposite the Magdalene at the foot of the Cross is
St Clare of Montefalco, holding in her hand her heart marked with the
signs of the Passion; the St Margaret on the left is a thoroughly
Raffaelesque figure, while the Madonna and St John are more like
Perugino at his weakest. Then comes St Sebastian taking the people of
San Gimignano under his protection in the time of pestilence, an
admirable fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli; around the Apollo of Christian
legend gather the people of the town in prayer; in spite of Christ and
Mary, the Eternal Father and the Angels of wrath are hurling down the
arrows of pestilence, but these are broken into pieces by other Angels
at Sebastian's intercession. Over the third altar is the Madonna delle
Grazie with St Michael, originally a fresco by Lippo Memmi, but
completely repainted and modernised.
The fresco at the steps, by Sebastiano Mainardi, inscribed _S.
Geminianus Silviaci Populi Gubernator_, is a masterpiece of municipal
sentiment. The Saint sits enthroned as bishop, while the three local
worthies kneel before him to receive his blessing; Mattia Lupi, the
bald-headed poet with his crown of laurel, who wrote in Latin verse the
annals of the town and died in 1468; Domenico Mainardi, a noble-looking,
grey-haired ecclesiastic, a distinguished canonist, who lectured at
Bologna, Florence and Siena, was chaplain to Pope Martin V., and died in
1422; Nello de' Cetti, a writer on civil law who died in 1430. The
fresco is dated 1487. The heads are fine, almost worthy of Ghirlandaio,
but they have been somewhat restored. Below it lies Fra Domenico
Strambi, "Parisian Doctor," the patron of Benozzo and Pollaiuolo, who
died in the following year. In the chapel to the left of the choir is
the Nativity of Mary, a curiously archaic picture by Tamagni, and in the
chapel to the right are two frescoes representing her birth and death,
ascribed to Bartolo di Fredi.
The frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the choir, begun for Fra Domenico
Strambi in 1463 and finished in 1465, are among the supreme achievements
of Florentine painting in the third quarter of the Quattrocento. They
set forth the chief events in the life of St Augustine, partly drawn
from the _Confessions_. The first fresco, in which the little Augustine
is taken to school by his parents, Patritius and Monica, is admirable
for the freshness and naiveté with which the whole comedy of
school-life, past and present, is treated. The drastic methods adopted
by the schoolmaster in dealing with the little idler are specially
referred to in the _Confessions_, where Augustine seems to remember his
floggings with a curious sense of injury and injustice.[192] In the next
(partly obliterated), we have his admission to the University of
Carthage at the age of nineteen--that season of lawless loves and
Manichaean errors so inimitably described at the beginning of the third
Book. On the window wall, much damaged and restored, are St Monica
praying for him, his crossing the sea and arrival in Italy. Next, we see
him teaching philosophy and rhetoric in Rome, the usual composition of
the lecturer and his pupils which we find elsewhere in the art of the
fifteenth century, with those splendid portrait heads that make the
modern student realise the wonderful intellectual vigour of these
Florentines of the Renaissance. Then comes the journey from Rome to
Milan, whither Augustine is sent by the Roman prefect Symmachus, in
answer to the Milanese request for a teacher of rhetoric; even so might
young Pico della Mirandola have looked when he first came to Florence.
This somewhat, indeed, recalls the style of the Procession of the Magi
in the Palazzo Riccardi, but is naturally in a more chastened style.
Above, two white-robed, green-winged Angels bear a scroll in honour of
Fra Domenico Strambi, who--it is expressly stated--at his own cost had
bidden Benozzo paint here; it is dated 1465. Then Augustine arrives at
Milan, makes the acquaintance
[Illustration:
_Alinari, Florence_
THE SCHOOLDAYS OF ST AUGUSTINE]
of Ambrose, is received by the Emperor Theodosius. After this he listens
to St Ambrose preaching, St Monica kneels before the latter (whom,
writes the Saint, she loved as an Angel of God), and Augustine begins to
be convinced. On the window wall we have the wonderful scene in the
garden, where Augustine and Alypius are finally and simultaneously
converted by the reading of the Epistle to the Romans--after Augustine
has heard the child's voice singing again and again from the
neighbouring house: _Tolle, lege; tolle, lege_, "Take and read: take and
read."[193] This is followed by his Baptism. Next Augustine, black-robed
and aureoled, is among the monks, and meets the little child by the
shore who rebukes him for attempting to penetrate into the mystery of
the Trinity. After this comes perhaps the finest picture of the whole
series, the Death of St Monica, with, at the window high up on the left,
the famous conversation at Ostia which preceded it;[194] the youth
standing behind Augustine with clasped hands is his son Adeodatus, _ex
me natus carnaliter, de peccato meo_. Monica is sitting up in her bed to
receive the Christ Child in the Host, and above her soul is being
carried up to Paradise in the usual little cloud (the _nubiletta
bianchissima_ of Dante's _Vita Nuova_) by Angels. On the right of the
fresco, Augustine is returning to Africa. In the four remaining frescoes
of the lunettes and on either side of the window, Augustine as Bishop of
Hippo blesses his people, he confutes the heretic Fortunatus, has a
vision of the glory of St Jerome in Paradise, and at last follows him.
This last fresco, representing the death and apotheosis of Augustine, is
also an admirable work. Full of expression and excellently composed, it
is one of those traditional death scenes which, in their ultimate
analysis, proceed from Giotto's Death of St Francis. The Evangelists on
the ceiling, the eight Saints on the pilasters are also by Benozzo. In
these frescoes he was assisted by pupils and apprentices, chief among
whom was a certain Giusto di Andrea, who had previously worked with Fra
Lippo Lippi.
Also in the Piazza Sant' Agostino is the small church of San Pietro,
which has the peculiar distinction of depending upon the bishopric of
Volterra, while all the other churches of the town are subject to the
Bishop of Colle. It contains several fragments of frescoes of the
fourteenth century, still partly under whitewash. Over the altar on the
right is a frescoed Madonna and Child with the Baptist and St Paul, of
the school of Lippo Memmi, in which--a rather unusual motive--the Child
is running to the Mother, clasping her hand in one and holding a fruit
in the other hand.
In the Via Venti Settembre, on the left, is Santa Chiara. The altarpiece
is a good work of the chief Florentine painter of the seventeenth
century, Matteo Rosselli. It represents Christ enthroned upon the
clouds, between the Madonna and the Baptist; below are St Francis and St
Louis of France on our left, while on our right--a motive equally happy
in conception and execution--St Clare is bringing Santa Fina into the
celestial company. There are several pictures ascribed to Rosselli in
the town, but this is the only one in the least degree worthy of the
painter of the David of the Pitti. Further on, on the right, are the
Hospitals, including the Spedale di Santa Fina, founded shortly after
her death by the Commune, partly from the alms of pilgrims. In 1274 two
special officers, _Esortatori_, were appointed to visit sick persons, to
beg alms or legacies for the institution. In the entrance hall, formerly
the chapel, are frescoes by Mainardi; four Saints in lunettes and, over
the door, a Madonna and Child blessing those that enter. In the chapel
is preserved the _tavola_, the board upon which Fina made her hard bed
of expiation for the sins of the world, and which blossomed out into
flowers when her sacrifice was accomplished.[195] Beyond is San
Girolamo, a church belonging to a convent of Vallombrosan nuns, with an
altarpiece by Vincenzo Tamagni of 1522, with an upper part added by a
later hand. At the end, connected with the former convent by a covered
way across, is the church of San Jacopo, which belonged to the Knights
Templars before the nuns had it; it is a building of the eleventh
century (said to have been built in 1096 by the Sangimignanesi who
returned from the Crusades), lovely in its ruin, in a little inclosed
plantation of olive trees. The ornamented terra-cotta window and the
curious coloured plates on the façade are noteworthy. Within are old
frescoes, apparently of the Sienese school of the fourteenth century. Mr
Berenson ascribes the St James on the pilaster to Pier Francesco. Then
we pass out, through a breach in the walls, to the olive trees that
clothe them, and to the sweeping view of the valley beyond.
At Santa Chiara, the Via della Fonte leads down between vineyards and
old walls to the Porta della Fonte, over which is a chapel. Outside,
over the gate, a statue of St Geminianus records the attempt of the
Ardinghelli and their allies to capture the town for the Duke of Athens
at this point, in 1342. The wonderfully picturesque fountains below,
where the women linger over their washing and carry up pitchers to the
houses, were constructed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. A
little to the left, among the olives, flaming poppies and purple
foxgloves, where a few oaks still remind us of the woods of old, there
is a superb view of the "Castello della Selva" right above us, with
eight of its towers visible.
The large prison that rises up at the walls, to the left of us, occupies
the site of the Rocca that defended the town until the Florentine
occupation in 1353. After that, a Dominican convent was built upon the
spot--the convent in which Savonarola stayed while preaching the Lent in
the Pieve. It was suppressed in the eighteenth century by the Austrian
Grand Duke of Tuscany. Opposite to it, in the Via del Castello, is the
little church of San Lorenzo in Ponte, with a few unimportant frescoes
of the Trecento.
Passing under the Arco de' Talei into the Via San Giovanni, we see a
large piece of the first circuit of walls on the right, adjoining the
Portone, blackened apparently by fire, and the tall Torre Talei.
Opposite the tower is a shrine, with a ruined fresco by Mainardi. In the
refectory of a former convent of Benedictine nuns (now the Palazzo
Pratellesi) is a very Peruginesque fresco by Vincenzo Tamagni,
representing the mystical marriage of St Catherine of Alexandria; it is
dated 1528. On the left is the dismantled façade of San Giovanni, a
building of the eleventh century. Over the inside of the gate is a
chapel built in 1601 to cover a venerated picture, but the outside of
the Porta San Giovanni is still unspoiled thirteenth century
architecture.
A short way beyond the Porta San Giovanni is the former monastery of
Monte Oliveto, founded in 1340 by Giovanni di Gualtiero Salvucci. In the
lunette over the door of the church is a fresco of the Madonna between
two white-robed monks, possibly by Tamagni. There is a Madonna of 1502
in the church by Mainardi, and two Sienese pictures of the school of
Lippo Memmi are in the sacristy. In the cloister is a frescoed
Crucifixion by Benozzo Gozzoli, with St Jerome beating his breast and
saying the Rosary at the foot of the Cross. Beyond Monte Oliveto, a road
of olives and barley fields leads to the small hamlet of Santa Lucia. In
its church are a fresco of the Crucifixion, with a little Dominican
kneeling at the foot, by Pier Francesco, and a picture by Fra
Paolino--one of those compositions of Madonnas and Saints that he
inherited from Fra Bartolommeo.
Outside the Porta San Matteo is the convent of the Cappuccini. In its
church is a Deposition from the Cross of 1591, ascribed to Jacopo
Ligozzi of Verona. About two miles further on, with a splendid view over
the valley, is Cellole, a Romanesque church of the first years of the
thirteenth century. Attached to it was the Leper Hospital, where San
Bartolo devoted his life to the stricken and where at last, himself
overtaken by the fell disease, he became one with the rest and died.
Behind the Collegiata, the way leads up to the Rocca di Montestaffoli,
the fortress which the Florentines built after 1353, to maintain their
hold upon the town. "The Commune of Florence," writes Matteo Villani,
"because it wished to live more secure of the town of San Gimignano and
to remove every cause of evil thinking from its townsfolk, began to have
made and finished, without leaving off the work at their expense, a
great and noble Rocca and fort, the which was raised above the Pieve,
where was the church of the Friars Preachers. And that church it had
rebuilt, larger and more beautiful, on the other side of the town lower
down."[196] It was dismantled, two hundred years later, by Cosimo de'
Medici. The greater part of it is now a garden, with the old well in the
middle of it. Ivy and purple foxgloves clothe the walls; figs and olives
and cherries grow where once the _fanti_ of the Florentine captains
lolled in their tight parti-coloured dress. The varied noises rising
from the town mingle pleasantly with the humming of bees. The highest
part commands a superb view over the valley of the Elsa bounded by the
distant mountains, the _terra_ itself below with, close at hand, the
_belle torri_ rising as it were in the face of their Florentine lords,
and away northwards is Boccaccio-haunted Certaldo. One at least of
Messer Giovanni's fair heroines came from San Gimignano--the Isabetta
whom English poets and English painters have surely made our own. Her
father, it will be remembered, was a citizen of San Gimignano who had
settled in Messina.
San Gimignano must be seen on some day of festa and procession, such as
that solemnity of Santa Fina which is kept once in every five years on
the first Sunday in August, or, more easily perhaps, on the annual
celebration of the _Corpus Domini_. On the afternoon of the vigil of the
latter day, the children wander out over the fields of all the country
round for miles, returning at nightfall with baskets full of red and
yellow flowers (the colours of the Commune), to be scattered in the way
on the morrow. Then on the morning of the Festa, after High Mass at the
Duomo, the procession passes under the Tower of the Commune, through the
streets, between those grim towers, beneath the massive dark portoni,
round and round the piazze. First come the various companies and
confraternities of the contado with their priests and banners, then the
Cappuccini with the gigantic black crucifix, followed by the canons of
the Collegiata and, under the baldacchino, the Proposto bearing the
Blessed Sacrament. The procession is almost exclusively composed of men
and boys, the women and girls contenting themselves with scattering the
red and yellow flowers before it as it advances. The crowd follows from
place to place, falling down in adoration as the Sacred Host comes past.
The bandsmen, the one obtrusive note of municipal modernity, with their
uniforms, their white plumes and tricoloured favours, only make
themselves evident at intervals, and whatever there may be of tawdriness
in the decorations and the finery is lost and transfigured in the glory
of the Tuscan early summer. Old Latin hymns, the Church's heritage from
the remotest Middle Ages, mingle and harmonise with the clamour of the
bells that clashed out a _stormo_ while Guelfs and Ghibellines struggled
madly together in these very streets through which the waving banners
move to-day, that rang a _gloria_ for the coming of Bishop Ranieri the
peacemaker, or were swung to and fro by the hands of invisible Angels
when the maiden Fina died. What more would the seeker for fresh
sensations in Italy desire?
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX
The following short note on Books and Authorities is not intended as a
complete bibliography, but simply as a guide to further information upon
the subjects dealt with in the present volume, and upon others which the
limited space at my disposal has compelled me to treat somewhat
cursorily and summarily.
_A._--HISTORY.
Orlando Malavolti, _Historia de' Fatti e Guerre dei Senesi, così
esterne come civili, seguite dall' origine della lor Città, fino
all' anno_ M.D. LV. Venice, 1599.
Giovanni Antonio Pecci, _Memorie storico-critiche della Città di
Siena_. Four volumes. Siena, 1755-1760. Taking its start from _La
vita civile di Pandolfo Petrucci_, this work tells the whole
history of Siena from 1480 to 1559.
The _Cronica Senese_ in Muratori, _Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_,
vol. xv. Milan, 1729. A series of chronicles by Andrea Dei and
Agnolo di Tura (1186-1352), Neri di Donato (1352-1382), and another
erroneously called Agnolo di Tura (1382-1385).
_Annali Senesi_ (1385-1422), in Muratori, _Rerum Italicarum
Scriptores_, vol. xix. Milan, 1731.
_La Cronica di Bindino da Travale_ (1315-1415), _edita a cura di_
Vittorio Lusini. Siena, 1900. Amusing reading, but of small
historical importance.
_Diari scritti da_ Allegretto Allegretti _delli cose senesi del suo
tempo_, in Muratori, _Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_, vol. xxiii.
Milan, 1733. Referred to in the present work as _Diari Senesi_;
they run from 1450 to 1480.
_Statuti Senesi; scritti in volgare ne' secoli xiii. e xiv., e
pubblicati secondo i testi del R. Archivio di Stato in Siena, per
cura di_ F. L. Polidori _e_ L. Banchi. Three volumes. Bologna,
1863, 1871, 1877.
_Il Costituto del Comune di Siena, volgarizzato nel_ MCCCIX. _e_
MCCCX. _da Ranieri di Ghezzo Gangalandi, edito per cura di_ Luciano
Banchi. Siena, 1874.
Giuseppe Porri, _Miscellanea Storica Senese_. Siena, 1844. This
contains:--
(1) _Il primo libro delle Istorie Senesi di_ Marcantonio
Bellarmati.
(2) _La Sconfitta di Montaperti_, from the chronicles of Domenico
Aldobrandini.
(3) _La Sconfitta di Montaperti di_ Niccolò di Giovanni di
Francesco Ventura. (Written in 1442. The fullest and most
picturesque account of the battle from the purely Sienese point of
view.)
(4) _Cenni sulla Zecca Senese._
Cesare Paoli, _La Battaglia di Montaperti_. Siena, 1869.
_Il Libro di Montaperti, pubblicato per cura di_ C. Paoli.
Florence, 1889.
Pasquale Villari, _I primi due secoli della Storia di Firenze_. Two
volumes. Florence, 1893, 1894.
Leonardo Bruni, _Istoria Fiorentina tradotta in volgare da_ D.
Acciaiuoli. (Containing the original Latin text and Acciaiuoli's
translation.) Three volumes. Florence, 1855-1860.
Giuseppe Rondoni, _Sena Vetus o il Comune di Siena dalle origini
alla battaglia di Montaperti_. Turin, 1892.
Luciano Banchi, _Il Piccinino nello Stato di Siena e la Lega
Italica (1455-56)_; _Ultime Relazioni dei Senesi con Papa Calisto
III._ In the _Archivio Storico Italiano_, series iv., vols. iv. and
v. Florence, 1879, 1880.
Pius II., _Aeneae Silvii Piccolominaei Historia Rerum Friderici
Tertii Imperatoris_. Strasburg, 1685.
Pius II., _Pii Secundi Pontificis Maximi Commentarii Rerum
Memorabilium quae temporibus suis contigerunt_. Rome, 1584.
Ludwig Pastor, _The History of the Popes from the Close of the
Middle Ages_. English translation. London, 1891-1900.
Alessandro Lisini, _Relazioni tra Cesare Borgia e la Repubblica
Senese_ (conferenza, or lecture, to the R. Accademia dei Rozzi).
Siena, 1900.
Niccolò Machiavelli, _Opere_. The edition referred to in the
present work is always that published in eight volumes at Florence
("Italia") in 1813.
Pasquale Villari, _Niccolò Machiavelli e i suoi tempi_. Second
edition in three volumes. Milan, 1895, 1896.
_Diario delle cose avvenute in Siena dai 20 luglio 1550 ai 28
giugno 1555, scritto da_ Alessandro Sozzini.
_La Cacciata della Guardia Spagnola da Siena d'incerto autore_,
1552.
_Racconti delle principali fazioni della guerra di Siena, scritti
da_ Girolamo Roffia, 1554. These three contemporary works, with
documents and appendices, are in the _Archivio Storico Italiano_,
series i., vol. ii. Florence, 1842.
_Giornale dell' Assedio di Montalcino fatto dagli Spagnoli nel 1553
di autore anonimo_. In the _Archivio Storico Italiano_. Appendix,
vol. viii. Florence, 1850.
_Commentaires du Maréchal Blaise de Montluc_ (edited by J. A. C.
Buchon). In the _Panthéon Littéraire_. Paris, 1836.
_The Commentaries of Messire Blaise de Montluc, Maréchal of
France._ Translated by C. Cotton. London, 1674.
U. G. Mondolfo, _Pandolfo Petrucci: Signore di Siena_. Siena, 1899.
Giuseppe Rondoni, _Siena nel secolo xvi._ In _La Vita Italiana nel
Cinquecento_. Milan, 1894.
Cesare Paoli, Article on _Siena_ in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_,
vol. xxii. Edinburgh, 1887.
PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS.
_Miscellanea Storica Senese._ Siena, from 1893 onwards.
_Bullettino Senese di Storia Patria._ Siena.
_B._--ART.
J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle, _A new History of Painting in
Italy from the second to the sixteenth century_. Three volumes.
London, 1864. (A new edition is announced in preparation by Mr
Langton Douglas.)
G. B. Cavalcaselle and J. A. Crowe, _Storia della pittura in Italia
dal Secolo II. al Secolo XVI._ Eight volumes. Florence, 1886-1898.
Vasari, _Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed
architettori; con nuove annotazioni e commenti di_ Gaetano
Milanesi. Eight volumes. Florence, 1878-1882.
_Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese, raccolti ed illustrati
da_ Gaetano Milanesi. Three volumes. Siena, 1854-1856.
_Nuovi Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese, raccolti da_ S.
Borghesi e L. Banchi. Siena, 1898.
Giovanni Morelli, _Italian Painters_, translated by C. J. Ffoulkes.
Two volumes. London, 1891-93.
Giovanni Morelli, _Della Pittura Italiana; studi storico-critici_.
(Same work in Italian.) Milan, 1897.
Gustavo Frizzoni, _L'Arte Italiana del Rinascimento_. Milan, 1891.
Bernhard Berenson. _The Central Italian Painters of the
Renaissance_. New York and London, 1897.
C. C. Perkins, _Historical Handbook of Italian Sculpture_. New
York, 1883.
Marcel Raymond, _La Sculpture florentine_. Four volumes. Florence,
1897-1901.
Carl Cornelius, _Jacopo della Quercia_. Halle, 1896.
Alessandro Lisini, _Notizie di Duccio Pittore e della sua celebre
Ancona_ (estratto dal _Bullettino Senese di Storia Patria_, anno v.
fasc. 1). Siena, 1898.
Pietro Rossi, _L'Arte Senese nel Quattrocento_ (conferenza, or
lecture, to the R. Accademia dei Rozzi). Siena, 1899.
Evelyn March Phillipps, _Pintoricchio_. London, 1901.
Maud Cruttwell, _Luca Signorelli_. London, 1900.
William Heywood, _A pictorial Chronicle of Siena_. Siena, 1902.
R. Hobart Cust, _The Pavement Masters of Siena_. London, 1901.
G. W. Kitchin, _Life of Pius II_. (as illustrated in Pinturicchio's
frescoes). Arundel Society.
_Catalogo della Galleria del R. Istituto Provinciale di Belle Arti
in Siena_. Siena, 1895.
_C._--THE SAINTS OF SIENA.
Girolamo Gigli, _L'opere della Serafica Santa Caterina da Siena_.
Vol. i. _La Vita_, translated by Bernardino Pecci from the Latin
_Leggenda_ of the Beato Raimondo da Capua (referred to in the
present work as _Leggenda_); the letter describing her life from
Stefano Maconi to Tommaso Nacci Caffarini, and the letter
describing her death from Barduccio Canigiani to Suor Caterina
Petriboni. Siena, 1707.
Vol. ii. and vol. iii. _L'Epistole della Serafica Vergine Santa
Caterina_. Lucca, 1721, and Siena, 1713.
Vol. iv. _Il Dialogo della Serafica Vergine_, and her minor works.
Siena, 1707.
Vol. v. _Supplimento alla vulgata leggenda di Santa Caterina da
Siena_, by Tommaso Nacci Caffarini, translated by Amb. Ansano
Tantucci. Lucca, 1754.
_Le Lettere di Santa Caterina da Siena ridotte a miglior lezione,
con proemio e note di_ Niccolò Tommaseo. Four volumes. Florence,
1860. (In quoting from the letters in the present work, I have
always adopted the text and the numeration of this edition.)
_Leggenda minore di Santa Caterina da Siena e Lettere dei suoi
Discepoli, scritture inedite pubblicate da_ Francesco Grottanelli.
The _Leggenda minore_ was written in Latin by Tommaso Nacci
Caffarini and translated into Italian by Stefano Maconi. Bologna,
1868.
Alfonso Capecelatro, _Storia di Santa Caterina da Siena_. Fourth
edition. Siena, 1878.
Augusta T. Drane, _The History of St Catherine of Siena and her
Companions_, with a translation of her treatise on Consummate
Perfection. Two volumes. London, 1899.
F. Alessio, _Storia di San Bernardino e del suo tempo_. Mondovi,
1899.
P. M. Oraffi, _Vita del Beato Bernardo Tolomei_. Venice, 1650.
Silvano Razzi, _Vite de' Santi e Beati Toscani_. Florence,
1593-1601.
Gaspero Olmi, _I Senesi d'una volta_. Siena, 1889.
_D._--MISCELLANEOUS.
_Siena e il suo Territorio._ Siena, 1862.
E. A. Brigidi, _La Nuova Guida di Siena e dei suoi aintorni_.
Siena, 1901, etc.
Girolamo Gigli, _Diario Senese, in cui si veggono alla giornata
tutti gli avvenimenti più ragguardevoli spettanti sì allo
Spirituale sì al Temporale della Città e Stato di Siena_. Two
volumes. Lucca, 1723.
Girolamo Gigli, _La città diletta di Maria_. Rome, 1716.
Giovanni Antonio Pecci, _Storia del Vescovado della città di
Siena_. Lucca, 1748.
Scipione Bargagli, _I Trattenimenti dove da vaghe donne e da
giovani huomini rappresentati sono honesti e dilette voli giuochi,
narrate novelle, e cantate alcune amorose canzonette_. Venice,
1587.
Giuseppe Rondoni, _Tradizioni popolari e leggende di un comune
medioevale e del suo contado_. Florence, 1886.
Lodovico Zdekauer, _Lo Studio di Siena nel Rinascimento_. Milan,
1894.
Lodovico Zdekauer, _Il Mercante Senese nel Ducento_. (A lecture
with an Appendix of Documents.) Siena, 1900.
Vittorio Lusini, _Storia della Basilica di San Francesco in Siena_.
Siena, 1894.
Vittorio Lusini, _Il San Giovanni di Siena_. Florence, 1901.
Antonio Canestrelli, _L'Abbazia di San Galgano_; monografia
storico-artistica. Florence, 1896.
Bartolommeo Aquarone, _Dante in Siena: ovvero accenni nella Divina
Commedia a cose senesi_. Siena, 1865.
Alessandro d'Ancona, _Cecco Angiolieri da Siena_. In _Studi di
Critica e Storia Letteraria_. Bologna, 1880.
Giosuè Carducci, _Rime di M. Cino da Pistoia e d'altri del secolo
XIV_. Florence, 1862.
_Le Rime di Folgore da San Gimignano e di Cene da la Chitarra
d'Arezzo, nuovamente pubblicate da_ Giulio Navone. Bologna, 1880.
Giuseppe Errico, _Folgore da San Gimignano e la Brigata
Spenaereccia_. Naples, 1895.
John Addington Symonds, _Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece_.
Third volume contains studies on Siena, Folgore, Monte Oliveto, and
Montepulciano. London, 1898.
Ambrogio Landucci, _Sacra Leccetana Selva, cioè origine e progressi
dell' antico e venerabile Eremo e Congregatione di Lecceto in
Toscana_. Rome, 1657.
Fra Filippo Agazzari, _Gli Assempri, testo di lingua inedito
pubblicato per cura di_ F. C. Carpellini. Siena, 1864.
William Heywood, _Our Lady of August and the Palio of Siena_.
Siena, 1899.
Antonio Marenduzzo, _Veglie e Trattenimenti Senesi nella seconda
metà del secolo XVI_. Trani, 1901.
Montgomery Carmichael, _In Tuscany_. Contains chapter on the
Spanish Praesidia. London, 1901.
Luciano Banchi, _I porti della Maremma Senese durante la
Repubblica_. In the _Archivio Storico Italiano_, series iii., vols.
x., xi., xii. Florence, 1869-1871.
_E_.--SAN GIMIGNANO.
Giovanni Francesco Coppi, _Annali, memorie ed huomini illustri ai
San Gimignano_. Florence, 1695.
Luigi Pecori, _Storia della Terra di San Gimignano_. Florence,
1853.
Matteo Villani, _Istorie Fiorentine_ (in continuation of those of
his brother Giovanni). In Muratori, _Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_.
Vol. xiv. Milan, 1729; and elsewhere.
_Cronachetta di San Gimignano composta da_ Fra Matteo Ciaccheri
Fiorentino, _l'anno MCCCLV_. Bologna, 1865. Fra Matteo was a native
of San Gimignano; he calls himself a Florentine because, when he
wrote, all his fellow-townsmen had become Florentine citizens.
Gino Capponi, _Storia della Repubblica di Firenze_. Appendix to
vol. i. Florence, 1878.
Ugo Nomi V. Pesciolini, _Le Glorie della Terra di San Gimignano_.
Siena, 1900.
Natale Baldoria, _Monumenti Artistici in San Gimignano_. Article in
the _Archivio Storico dell' Arte_ for 1890. Rome, 1890.
Bernhard Berenson, _The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance_.
Second Edition. New York, 1900.
Alfredo Tognetti, _Guida di San Gimignano_. Florence, 1899.
[Illustration: Map of SIENA.]
GENERAL INDEX
A.
Abati, Bocca degli, Florentine traitor at Montaperti, 15.
Accona, desert of, 315, 316.
Agazzari, Fra Filippo, author of the _Assempri_, 23, 305-311.
Agostino di Giovanni, architect and sculptor (died in 1350),
99, 278, 284, 285.
Agnolo di Tura ("Grasso"), chronicler, his description of the
pestilence, 25, 26; quoted, 127.
Agnolo di Ventura, architect (died in 1348), 99, 278, 284.
_Aggregati, Monte degli_, 75.
Albany, Duke of (John Stuart), 210, 211.
Albertinelli, Mariotto, painter (1474-1515), 124.
Albizzeschi, Bernardino. See Bernardino.
Aldobrandeschi, Counts of Santa Fiora, 7, 14, 15.
Airoldi, Fra Domenico, Abbot of Monte Oliveto, 317, 318, 320.
Alexander III., Pope (Orlando Bandinelli), his pontificate, 5;
consecrates the older Duomo, 6;
frescoes depicting his life, 143, 144;
honoured by modern Siena, 144;
statue of in the Duomo, 160.
---- IV., Pope (Rinaldo Conti), unites the Augustinian hermits
into one order, 305.
---- VI., Pope (Roderigo Borgia), threatens the liberty of Siena, 86;
recalls Cesare, 89;
dies, 90;
patron of Pinturicchio, 171;
portraits of, 174.
---- VII., Pope (Fabio Chigi), character of, 160.
Allegretti, Allegretto di Nanni, diarist, quoted 74, 75;
describes the reconciliation of Noveschi and Popolani in the Duomo, 78, 79;
quoted 129, 130, 157 (note);
describes a festa in the Via del Capitano, 257;
referred to, 267 (note);
his account of the reducing the Monti to one and the presentation
of the keys to the Madonna, 272-274.
Altoviti, Bartolommeo, Florentine captain in San Gimignano, 338.
Alviano, Bartolommeo, condottiere, 91.
Amerighi, Amerigo, plots the liberation of Siena, 224.
---- Marcantonio, ambassador to the Emperor, 219.
Andrea di Vanni, painter (end of Trecento), 107, 206, 207, 208 (note), 296.
Andrea Pisano (1270-1348), sculptor and architect, referred to, 99, 100.
Anguillara, Conte Virginio dell', papal condottiere, 212, 213;
routed outside Porta Camollia, 214.
Ansanus, St, Apostle of Siena, 105, 139, 162, 179, 187, 261, 305.
Andrea Dei, 177.
Aragona, Alfonso da, Duke of Calabria (afterwards King of Naples),
attempts to obtain the lordship of Siena, 74, 75;
his victory at Poggio Imperiale, 138;
referred to, 272, 314.
---- Eleonora da (afterwards Duchess of Ferrara), 254, 257.
Arbia, the, 17, 314.
Ardinghelli, family of the, lead the Guelfs of San Gimignano, 328, 329, 331;
their factious conduct, 336, 337;
feud with the Salvucci, 337, 338;
get possession of San Gimignano, 338;
forced to surrender to the Florentines, 339;
urge complete submission to Florence, 340;
their palace, 355.
---- Francesco degli, leads an attack upon San Gimignano, 337.
---- Primerano degli, attacks San Gimignano, 337;
judicial murder of, 338, 352.
Ardinghelli, Rossellino degli, fined, 337;
judicial murder of, 338, 352.
---- Scolaio degli, arbitrates between the clergy and people of
San Gimignano, 352.
Aringhieri, Alberto, 156, 161, 212.
---- Luzio, executed, 212.
---- Niccolò, monument to, 283.
Arras, Count of, at Montaperti, 14, 15.
_Asinate_, 130, 131.
Athens, Duke of (Walter de Brienne), 24, 336, 337.
Avila, Don Franzese de, commands Spanish garrison in Siena, 225, 226.
Augustine, St., his legendary visit to Lecceto, 305;
Gozzoli's frescoes concerning him, 358, 359.
B.
Baglioni, Andrea, his defence of Monticchiello, 228.
---- Giampaolo, his plot against Cesare Borgia, 86;
allied with Pandolfo Petrucci, 87-90.
---- Oreste, condottiere, 93.
Balducci, Matteo, painter (early Cinquecento), 118, 119, 123, 175, 180, 293.
_Balìa, Collegio di_, institution of, 70;
in the hands of the Popolani, 75;
in those of the Noveschi, 79;
nominally divided among the three Monti, 85;
subservient to Pandolfo, 85;
decrees his banishment, 88;
recalls him, 89, 90;
ruled by Raffaello, 94;
the assassination of Giberto da Correggio by, 144-146;
various changes in and measures of, 211, 213, 218;
subservient to Don Diego, 219, 220;
abolished, 227;
appointed by Cosimo de' Medici, 244.
_Balzana_, legend of origin of the, 1, 2.
Bandinelli, Orlando. See Alexander III., Pope.
---- Sozzo, 30.
Bandini, Sallustio, father of Francesco and Mario, 283.
Bandini (Piccolomini), Francesco, Archbishop of Siena, 168;
relations with Michelangelo, 170;
sent to the Emperor, 219;
escapes to Montalcino, 236, 239.
Bandini (Piccolomini), Mario, heads the rising against Fabio
Petrucci, 98, 210;
a leader of the Libertini, 210, 211;
calls the people to arms against Alessandro Bichi, 211;
captures the papal artillery at the Battle of Camollia, 214;
heads the opposition to the Noveschi, 216;
arrested by Ferrante Gonzaga, 217;
rebukes the Bardotti, 217;
alluded to, 219;
leads the exodus to Montalcino, 242;
maintains the form of the Sienese Republic at Montalcino, 244;
and dies there, 244.
Bardotti, the, 217, 218.
Barbarossa. See Frederick I., Emperor.
Bargagli, Marino, conspirator, 70.
---- Scipione, novelist, 241, 252, 253, 254, 290, 291.
Barili, Antonio, sculptor (died 1516), 102, 103, 118, 147, 167, 281.
---- Giovanni, sculptor (died 1529), 102, 103, 167.
Barna, painter (died 1380), 107;
his work at San Gimignano, 346.
Baroncetti, Conspiracy of the, in San Gimignano, 335, 336.
Bartolo, San (Buonpedoni) of San Gimignano, his life, 333;
pictures of, 347, 350;
his shrine, 356;
at Cellole, 363.
Bartolo di Fredi, painter (died 1410), his works in Siena, 107;
at San Gimignano, 345, 346, 357.
Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio ("Il Sodoma"), painter, (1477-1549), his
life and work, 115, 116;
his pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 118, 120, 124;
frescoes in the Palazzo de' Signori, 135, 139, 142, 143, 147, 148;
Holy Family under the Spedale, 188;
his work in San Domenico, 203, 204, 205, 206;
other pictures and frescoes by him in Siena, 262, 265, 282;
his frescoes at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 317-320, 321, 322;
works at San Gimignano, 343, 352, 354.
Beccafumi, Domenico (di Giacomo di Pace), painter and sculptor
(1486-1550), 116;
his life and character, 117;
his pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 119, 123, 124;
frescoes in the Sala di Concistoro, 143;
work on the
pavement of the Duomo, 158, 159;
other work in the Duomo and elsewhere, 167, 179, 248, 262, 282, 293.
Beccafumi, Lorenzo, one of the delegates from Siena to Cesare Borgia, 89;
his patronage of Domenico, 117.
Belcaro, 302-304.
Bellanti, family of the, lead the Noveschi, 75, 76, 80;
their conspiracy against Pandolfo Petrucci, 91;
return to Siena, 94;
alleged plot against Raffaello Petrucci, 97;
excluded from the Government, 216.
---- Andrea di Naddino, converted by St. Catherine, 46.
---- Ghino di Pietro, treacherous citizen, 70, 112;
his tavoletta, 270.
---- Giulio di Leonardo, his plot against Pandolfo, 91;
is murdered by Francesco Petrucci, 97.
---- Guidone di Leonardo, put to death by Raffaello Petrucci, 97.
---- Leonardo, plots for the return of the Noveschi, 77;
a leading spirit in the party, 80;
begins to resent the Petruccian supremacy, 85;
his letter to Bernardino Borghesi, 85, 86;
intrigues against Pandolfo, 88;
one of the Sienese delegates to Cesare Borgia, 89;
plots against Pandolfo's life and is declared a rebel, 91;
returns to Siena with Raffaello Petrucci, 94;
is beheaded, 97.
---- Luzio, occupies Montereggioni for the Noveschi, 76;
a leading spirit in the new regime, 80;
routs the Riformatori and Popolani, 82;
is deprived of the command of the mercenaries, 83;
plots against the Noveschi and is banished, 83;
his professed zeal for the liberty of his country, 85, 86;
is murdered by Pandolfo, 85, 86, 92.
---- Petrino, 91.
Benincasa, Caterina. See Catherine, St.
---- Giacomo, 43, 45.
---- Lapa, 43, 57, 66.
---- Lisa (Colombini), 47.
Benvenuto di Giovanni, painter (1436-1518), 109, 119, 120;
his designs for the pavement of the Duomo, 157, 158;
other works by him, 188, 203.
Benedetti, Giovanni Maria, Sienese patriot, 224.
Benzi, family of the, 205.
---- Antonio, canon, 222 (note).
Bernardino, San (Albizzeschi), his life and work, 71, 73;
portraits of, by Vecchietta and Sano di Pietro, 110, 113;
his sermons to the Sienese, 128, 129, 132;
pictures of, 139, 143, 144, 167;
his work for the plague-stricken, 188;
oratory to his honour, 285;
founds the Osservanza, 298;
contemporary portrait of, 300;
his cell, 300.
Bernardino da Asti, Fra, preaches in the Piazza San Martino, 276.
Bernini, Giovanni Lorenzo, sculptor and architect (1598-1680), 154.
_Biccherna, Camarlingo e quattro Provveditori di_, 6, 9, 21, 27, 269, 270.
_Biccherna, Tavolette di_, 269-275.
Bichi, family of the, leaders of the Noveschi, 80, 216.
---- Alessandro, adheres to Fabio Petrucci, 98;
becomes the head of the Noveschi, 210;
attempts to make himself tyrant of Siena, 211;
is assassinated by the Libertini, 211;
his palace, 289.
---- Antonio, Sienese commissary to Montepulciano, 81, 83.
---- Antonio Maria, banished, 212.
---- Margherita. See Buonsignori.
Bigozzi, Niccolò dei, at Montaperti, 14.
Bindino da Travale, quoted, 24.
Boccaccio, Giovanni, 25, 131, 132, 324, 363, 364.
Bonizzelli, Giovanni Andrea, put to death, 226.
Bordone, Paris, Venetian painter, (cinquecento), 124.
Borghesi, family, leaders of the Noveschi, 75, 80, 216.
---- Bernardino di Niccolò, 85, 86.
---- Camillo. See Paul V., Pope.
---- Giovanni, 253.
---- Niccolò, organises the return of the Noveschi from exile, 76;
his character, 80;
ambassador from Siena to Charles VIII. of France, 81;
leads the Noveschi against the Popolani and Riformatori,
82;
Luzio Bellanti plots against him, 83;
his murder and death, 85;
Leonardo Bellanti's letter about, 85, 86;
scene of his murder, 253;
inscription on the Porta Romana ascribed to him, 281.
Borghesi, Pietro (the elder), 82.
---- Pietro (the younger), murdered, 216.
Borgia, Alfonso. See Calixtus III., Pope.
---- Cesare, his designs, 86;
crushes the conspiracy at Sinigaglia, 86, 87;
his enterprise against Siena, 87-89;
is recalled by the Pope, 89;
wins the Palio, 131 (note);
letter of in the Archivio di Stato, 268.
---- Roderigo. See Alexander VI., Pope.
Botticelli, Sandro, painter, (1447-1510), 251, 354.
Brandano, hermit, 223;
assails Don Diego, 224;
mocks the Cardinal Ippolito, 228;
discovers the Madonna of Provenzano, 283;
supposed portrait of, 284.
Brescianino, Andrea (Piccinelli) del, painter, (early sixteenth
century), 117, 123, 177, 251, 285.
Bruco, Compagnia del, insurrection of, 37-40.
Bruni, Leonardo, Florentine historian, 15, 16 (note).
Bulgarini, the, family of Noveschi, 216.
Buonaccorsi, Filippo (Callimaco), 343.
Buoninsegni, Bernardino, ambassador from Montalcino, 244.
Buonsignori, Annibale, 244.
---- Margherita, her visions acted upon by the Republic, 213.
C.
Cacciaconti, Aldobrandino di Guido, leads the people against the nobles, 8;
is made Podestà, 9.
Caffarini, Fra Tommaso Nacci, friend and biographer of St. Catherine, 47, 205.
Calixtus III., Pope (Alfonso Borgia), allied with Siena, 70;
idealised portrait of, by Sano di Pietro, 112;
takes Siena under his protection, 112, 113;
condones the assassination of Giberto da Corregio, 146, 147;
in a fresco by Pinturicchio, 173, 174;
his crusading zeal recorded in a Tavoletta di Gabella, 270, 271.
_Camarlingo._ See _Biccherna_ and _Gabella_.
Campana, General Council of the, 9, and _passim_.
Canigiani, Barduccio, disciple and secretary of St Catherine, 61, 62, 66, 292.
Camollia, Battle of, 213-215;
referred to, 216, 221;
in a Tavoletta di Gabella, 274;
votive pictures of, in San Martino and San Giacomo di Salicotto, 276, 277.
Casolani, Alessandro, painter and architect, 124, 197.
Cassioli, Amos, painter, 125, 251.
Calabria, Duke of. See Alfonso and Charles.
---- Duchess of (Ippolita Maria Sforza), 129.
Caterina of Salicotto, the "two-handed sword," 93.
Catherine, Saint (Caterina Benincasa), her birth and childhood, 43;
takes the Dominican habit, 43, 44;
her early visions and mystical marriage, 44;
her family life, 45;
saves her brothers' lives, 45;
her mystical change of heart and vision of the spirit world, 46;
her active work in the city, 46, 47;
her disciples, 47, 48;
her account of the execution of Niccolò di Toldo, 48-50;
becomes a political power, 50;
reconciles the Salimbeni, 50;
her letters and her philosophy of life, 51;
letters to the Legate of Bologna and to Bernabò Visconti, 51;
to Beatrice della Scala, 51, 52;
on the corruption of the Church, 52;
supports the proposed Crusade and attempts to rid Italy of the
free companies, 52;
at Pisa, 52, 53;
intervenes in the war between Tuscany and the Pope, 54;
her letters to Gregory XI., 54, 55;
to the Signoria of Florence, 55, 56;
at Florence and at Avignon, 56, 57;
persuades the Pope to return to Rome, 57;
at Genoa, 57;
letters to Lapa,
Giovanna Maconi and the Pope, 57, 58;
her rupture with Gregory XI., 58, 59;
her troubles, 59;
at Florence for peace, 59;
addresses Urban, 59;
is assailed by the Ciompi, 60;
letters to Frate Raimondo and her disciples at Siena, 60;
her literary work, 61;
her attitude towards Urban VI., 62;
preaches to the Cardinals, 63;
her passionate support of Urban against Clement, 63, 64;
rebukes Frate Raimondo, 64;
works with the Roman Republic, 64;
last political letters, 64, 65;
saves Urban from the people, 65;
her vision of the _Navicella_, 65;
last farewell to Raimondo, 66;
her death, 66;
Niccolò Borghesi's devotion to her, 85;
pictures of her, 114, 118, 119, 120, 123, 139;
canonisation of by Pius II., 174;
her relations with the Disciplinati, 187;
unhistorical historical picture of her, 188;
site of her first vision, 189, 190;
her "Oratorio in Fontebranda," 191;
its history, 191, 192;
statues of her by Urbano da Cortona and Neroccio, 192, 195;
frescoed scenes of her life in her house, 195, 196;
her cell and relics, 196;
the two upper oratories in her house, 196, 197;
the legend of the reception of the Stigmata, 197, 198;
bust of her by Cozzarelli, 198;
her festa in the Contrada, 198, 201;
her shrine in San Domenico, 204, 205;
her relics, 206;
in the Cappella delle Volte, 206-208;
her portrait by Andrea di Vanni, 206, 207;
reflections on her mysticism, 209;
heals a feud in San Cristofano, 289;
her letters in the Biblioteca Comunale, 292;
at Belcaro, 303;
relations with the Augustinian hermits of Lecceto, 305, 308, 309;
her praises sung by the papal choristers to the monks of Monte Oliveto, 323.
Ceccolini, Cerreto, 17, 251.
Cerretani, family of the, 37, 40.
---- Ildebrando, 89.
Cellino di Nese, sculptor (later Trecento), 99.
Charlemagne, alleged privileges granted by him to Siena, 2.
Charles I., King of Naples (Charles the Elder of Anjou), 18, 20, 331.
---- III., King of Naples (Charles of Durazzo), 65, 70.
---- IV., Roman Emperor (Charles of Luxemburg), 26;
overturns the government of the Nine, 27, 28;
negotiations with the Sienese, 30, 31;
again at Siena, 32, 33;
his defeat and humiliation, 33, 34, 37.
---- V., Roman Emperor and King of Spain, takes Siena under his
protection, 211;
sends Spanish governors and soldiers, 216;
visits Siena, 218;
his ministers and governors, 218, 219;
intends to build a citadel, 220, 221;
his reception of the Sienese ambassadors, 222;
referred to, 226, 227, 232, 241;
Siena capitulates to, 242;
invests his son, Philip II., with Siena, 243.
---- VIII., King of France, 81, 82, 294, 295.
---- of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, 24.
Chigi, Fabio. See Alexander VII., Pope.
---- Sigismondo, 91.
Ciaccheri, Fra Matteo, chronicler of San Gimignano, 335, 336, 339,
340, 344, 353.
Cino, Cardinal Giovanni Battista. See Innocent VIII., Pope.
Cini, Giovanni di Lorenzo, painter (Cinquecento), 274, 276, 277.
Clement VII., Pope (Giulio de' Medici), aids Fabio Petrucci in his
designs on Siena, 98;
supports Alessandro Bichi, 210;
takes up the cause of the Noveschi and declares war on Siena, 212, 213;
his army routed, 214, 215.
Colle di Val d'Elsa, battle of, 19, 20.
Colombini, Beato Giovanni, 111.
Colonna, Giulio, condottiere of the Sienese, 214.
Correggio, Giberto da, his treachery, 70, 112;
put to death by the Balìa, 144-146.
Cozzarelli, Giacomo, architect and sculptor (1453-1515), 102, 248,
262, 282, 299, 300.
----, Guidoccio, painter (1450-1516), 114, 119, 157, 274.
Coppi, G. A., chronicler of San Gimignano, 330.
D.
Dante, on the battle of Montaperti, 16;
on Provenzano Salvani, 19, 131, 283;
on the battle of Colle and Sapia, 20;
other references of his to Sienese matters, 21, 22, 23;
Boccaccio's account of him in the Campo, 131, 132;
referred to, 139, 141, 149;
the decorations and pavement of the Duomo illustrated from the
_De Monarchia_ and the _Divina Commedia_, 154, 155, 156;
referred to, 165, 177, 178;
his story of La Pia, 258;
his allusion to the Diana, 262 (and note);
collection of documents illustrating his works, 268, 269;
references to, 300, 305;
his embassy to San Gimignano. 333, 334;
his _Inferno_ contrasted with that of Taddeo di Bartolo, 346, 347;
in the Council Chamber of San Gimignano, 352;
references to, 355, 359.
Dodicini, the (Monte de' Dodici, Popolani of the Middle Number),
obtain the chief authority in the Republic, 28;
their administration, 28-30;
their overthrow, 30, 31;
make common cause with the Salimbeni, 31, 32, 33, 37;
join in the massacre of the Costa d'Ovile, and attempt to
capture the Palazzo, 39;
are excluded from the government, 40;
rise against the Riformatori, 41;
share in the new regime, 67;
are expelled again, 68;
again readmitted to the government, 75;
their factious conduct, 75, 86;
their Monte united to that of the Gentiluomini, 79;
take part with the Noveschi, 82;
act of vandalism perpetrated by them, 127;
included in the Monte del Popolo, 211;
in that of the Gentiluomini, 216.
Diana, the, 262.
Diego. See Hurtado de Mendoza.
Domenico di Bartolo, painter (extant works dating from 1433 to 1443), 109;
his picture in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 109, 110;
his work on the pavement of the Duomo, 158;
his frescoes in the Spedale, 185-187.
Domenico di Niccolò del Coro, sculptor (died about 1450), 102;
his choir stalls in the Palazzo Pubblico, 142;
his work on the pavement of the Duomo, 158.
Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi), sculptor (1386-1466), 101;
his works in the Duomo, 161, 162;
a Madonna ascribed to him, 176;
his work on the Font of the Baptistery, 181, 182.
Doria, Andrea, occupies Talamone, 212.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, painter (born before 1260, died after June 1313), 23;
his work and period of activity, 103 (and note);
his pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 105;
erroneous tradition that he designed the pavement of the Duomo, 154;
referred to, 167;
his famous Ancona now in the Opera del Duomo, 177-179;
picture ascribed to him, 188;
his house, 261;
a work of his no longer in Siena, 301;
referred to, 346.
Duprè, Giovanni, modern Sienese sculptor, 125, 265, 266.
Dominic, St, 201.
E.
Este, Ercole I. da, second Duke of Ferrara, 138, 254, 257.
---- Ercole II. da, fourth Duke of Ferrara, 242.
---- Ippolito II. da, Cardinal of Ferrara, governs Siena in
the name of France, 227, 228, 232, 233, 257.
---- Eleonora d'Aragona da. See Aragona.
Eugenio, Sant', "Il Monastero," 301.
Eusebio di San Giorgio, painter, assistant of Pinturicchio, 174.
F.
Faggiuola, Uguccione della, his victory at Montecatini, 24, 335;
Folgore's sonnet concerning him, 335.
Fantozzo, Giovanni Battista, leader of the republican plot
against Alessandro Bichi, 211.
Farinata. See Uberti.
Fausta, Livia, praised by Montluc, 234.
Federighi, Antonio, architect and sculptor (died about 1480), 101;
his work on the Chapel of the Campo, 135;
on the pavement of the Duomo, 157, 158;
other works of his in the Duomo, 159, 160, 161;
a Moses ascribed to him, 176;
a _graffito_ design of his for the Baptistery, 181;
worked on the Oratory of St Catherine in Fontebranda, 192;
on the Loggia di Mercanzia, 247;
on the Palazzo delle Papesse, 252;
built the Loggia del Papa, 275;
his work at the chapel of the Palazzo dei Diavoli, 295.
Ferraccio, leader of the populace, 38.
Ferrante of Aragon, King of Naples, 74, 75.
Filippo, Fra. See Agazzari.
Fina, Santa (Fina de' Ciardi of San Gimignano), her life, 329, 330;
her shrine in the Collegiata of San Gimignano, 348, 349;
other pictures of her, 350, 353, 360;
the Spedale in her honour, 360, 361.
Flete, William, Augustinian hermit, 305, 308.
Florence, wars of, with Siena, 6-9, 11-18, 20;
alliance of, with Siena, 20;
makes peace between the Sienese nobles and people, 37;
stimulates opposition to the Riformatori, 41;
leads the war of the Tuscan Republics against the Pope
Gregory XI., 53-56, 59;
wars with Siena concerning Montepulciano, 67;
other wars with Siena, 74, 82, 83;
aids the Petrucci, 89, 94, 98;
supports Alessandro Bichi, 210, 211;
renews hostilities with Siena in union with Clement VII., 212-215;
the last war between her and Siena, 231-243;
relations with San Gimignano, 327, 331, 333, 334, 336;
her final subjugation of San Gimignano, 337-342;
and _passim_.
Fogliani, Guidoriccio dei, Captain of War in Siena, 136, 137.
Folcacchieri, Folcacchiero dei, poet, 9.
Folgore da San Gimignano, poet, 22;
his _corona_ of sonnets for the months of the year, 22, 23;
his sonnet on a knight's vigil, 161;
his _brigata_ of young nobles, 292, 293;
his _corona_ of sonnets for the days of the week, 334, 335;
sonnet on the Guelf defeat at Montecatini, 335.
Fonte, Fra Tommaso della, follower of St Catherine, 46, 47.
Forestani, Simone di Ser Dino, poet, 67, 68.
Forteguerri, family of the, 25, 27;
their tower and palace, 252, 253.
---- Vittoria. See Piccolomini.
---- a lady of the family praised by Montluc, 234.
Fortini, Pietro, novelist, 115, 283, 293, 294 (and note).
Franchi, Alessandro, modern Sienese painter, 153, 159, 195.
Francis, St, his visit to Lecceto, 305; and _passim_.
Frederick I., Roman Emperor (Hohenstauffen), 5, 143, 144.
---- II., Roman Emperor (Hohenstauffen), 9.
---- III., Roman Emperor (Hapsburg), 72, 172, 173, 295.
Fungai, Bernardino, painter (1460-1516), 114;
works by him in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 119, 120;
and elsewhere in Siena, 188, 196, 197, 202, 274, 277, 294.
Fusina, Andrea, sculptor (latter part of the Quattrocento.),
work on the Piccolomini altar of the Duomo, 169.
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, architect, sculptor and painter
(1439-1502), 102, 109;
pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 114, 119;
altarpiece by him in San Domenico, 202;
Tavolette of Biccherna and Gabella ascribed to him, 271, 272;
the Palazzo Bandini and the Madonna delle Nevi probably built
by him, 283, 292;
picture by him at Sant'Eugenio, 301.
G.
_Gabella, Camarlingo e Esecutori di_, 269.
----, _Tavolette e tavole di_, 269-275.
Gaddi, Taddeo, painter (circa 1300-1366), picture by him at Siena, 108.
Galgano, Abbazia di San, 313;
palace in Siena that belonged to the monks of, 278.
Galganus, St (Galgano Guidotti), 105, 106, 313.
Gallerani, the Beato Andrea, 105.
Gano da Siena, sculptor (middle of fourteenth century), 134, 162.
Garcia de Toledo, imperialist general, 228, 231.
Genga, Girolamo, painter (1476-1551), 115;
works by him in Siena. 118, 123, 176.
Gentiluomini, Monte dei, 7, 21;
they temporarily recover possession of the State, 31;
papal intervention on behalf of, 73;
later share in government, 79, 216, and _passim_.
Ghiberti, Lorenzo, sculptor (1378-1455), 100, 101;
quoted on Duccio, 103;
on other Sienese painters, 104;
his story of the Venus of Lysippus, 127;
his praise of Simone Martini, 136;
his bronze bas-reliefs on the Font of the Baptistery of Siena, 181, 182.
Ghirlandaio, Domenico, painter (1449-1494), his works in San
Gimignano, 348, 349, 351.
Giacomo della Quercia. See Quercia.
Giacomo di Mino Pellicciaio, painter (died in 1396), 107, 108;
designed the façade of the Baptistery, 176, 180;
picture in the Servi, 277.
Giacomo di Castello, worker in stained glass, executes window
for the Duomo, 167.
Giacomo Cozzarelli. See Cozzarelli.
Gilio di Pietro, painter (working in the middle of the thirteenth
century), painted the portrait of Don Ugo on a Tavoletta di Biccherna, 270.
Giordano, Count, representative of King Manfred in Siena, 11;
commands mercenaries at Montaperti, 13-16, 18;
contrasted by Malavolti with Piero Strozzi, 232.
Giorgio di Giovanni, painter (working in the middle of the sixteenth century),
tavolette ascribed to him, 275.
Giotto da Bondone, architect, sculptor and painter (circa 1276-1336)
referred to, 110, 112;
supposed design for his Campanile at Florence in the Sienese Opera
del Duomo, 176;
compared with Duccio, 177, 179;
referred to, 278;
his death of St Francis, 359.
Giovanna of Anjou, Queen of Naples, 52, 63, 64, 65.
Giovanni di Agostino, architect (son of Agostino di Giovanni),
superintends building of the new Duomo, 150, 153.
---- di Niccolò Pisano, architect and sculptor (born circa 1250--died
after 1328), chief architect of the Duomo, 99, 153;
his tombstone, 153;
one of the pupils of his father in the work of the pulpit, 162.
---- di Paolo, painter (died in 1482), 109;
works by him in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 111;
and elsewhere in Siena, 180, 251, 270, 296.
---- di Pietro, painter (painting in 1436), picture by him in the Servi, 278.
---- di Stefano, architect and sculptor (son of Sassetta, died after
1498), 102;
work on pavement of Duomo, 155, 157;
in the Chapel of the Baptist, 160, 161;
bronze Angels by him, 167.
---- da Verona, Fra, sculptor (working at the beginning of the
Cinquecento), his intarsia work in the Duomo, 167;
works at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 322, 323.
Girolamo di Benvenuto, painter (1470-1524), 114, 115;
picture by him in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 120;
in the house of St Catherine, 196;
in Fontegiusta, 294.
---- da Cremona, painter and miniaturist (end of Quattrocento), 176.
---- Magagni, called Giomo, painter (pupil of Bazzi), 118.
Giunta Pisano, painter (working in the middle of the thirteenth century),
miraculous Crucifix ascribed to him in the House of St Catherine, 197.
Gonzaga, Don Ferrante, 217.
---- Giovanni Francesco, Marquis of Mantua, 131 (note).
Gozzoli, Benozzo, painter (1420-1498), his works in the Collegiata
of San Gimignano, 347, 349, 350;
in Sant' Agostino there, 357-360;
in Monte Oliveto, 362.
Gregorio da Siena, painter (early fourteenth century), 180.
Gregory the Great, Pope, his _Dialogues_, 317, 322.
---- XI., Pope (Pierre Roger de Beaufort), his relations with St
Catherine, 51-57;
return to Rome, 58;
his rupture with St Catherine, 58;
references to, 59, 188, 197, 206.
Guido da Siena, painter (latter part of the thirteenth century),
his Madonna in the Palazzo Pubblico, 138.
_Giuoco delle Pugna_, 130, 131, 239.
Gori, Francesca, follower of St Catherine, 47, 62, 204.
Goro di Neroccio, sculptor (early Quattrocento) work in Baptistery, 182.
Guidoguerra, Count, 12.
Guido Novello, Count, 14, 19.
H.
Hawkwood, Sir John, condottiere, 29, 30, 40, 52.
Henry VII., Roman Emperor (Luxemburg), 24, 177, 314, 315, 334.
Hurtado de Mendoza, Diego, Spanish Governor of Siena, 219, 220.
I.
Illicini, Bernardo, novellist, 291 (note).
Innocent VIII., Pope (Giovanni Battista Cibo, Malfetta), 76, 273, 343.
J.
John XXII., Pope (Jacques d'Euse), 316.
Julius II., Pope (Giuliano della Rovere), 90, 92, 93.
Julius III., Pope (Giovanni Maria del Monte), 241, 251.
L.
Landi, Neroccio di Bartolommeo, sculptor and painter (1447-1500), 102, 109;
pictures by in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 114;
his Hellespontine Sibyl, 157;
other works by him in the Duomo, 160, 161;
statue of St Catherine in the oratory of Fontebranda, 192, 195;
his pictures in the Palazzo Saracini, 251;
other works in Siena ascribed to him, 272, 278, 293.
Lando, Pietro di, architect (working in 1339), superintends the
building of the new Duomo, 150, 153.
Lanzi, Padre quoted, 103.
Landucci, Ambrogio, historian of Lecceto, 305, 306, 311.
Lecceto, the Hermitage of San Salvatore di, 304-312.
Leonardo al Lago, San, church and ruined hermitage, 312-313.
Leo X., Pope (Giovanni de' Medici), 94, 97.
Libertini, the, 210, 211, 214, 215.
Lippi, Filippino, painter (1457-1504), his Annunciation at San Gimignano, 354.
Lippo, Memmi, painter (died about 1356), 104;
pictures in his manner in the Istituto di Belle Arti in Siena, 106;
designs upper part of the Torre del Mangia, 135;
his Madonna del Popolo in the Servi, 278;
his fresco in the Sala del Consiglio of San Gimignano, 352, 353;
remains of a fresco by him in Sant' Agostino at San Gimignano, 357;
works of his school in other churches there, 360, 362.
Lippo di Vanni, painter (later Trecento), 107;
fresco by him in the Palazzo Pubblico, 137, 138.
Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, painter (working in 1323, died in 1348), 23;
is Siena's greatest master, 104;
his works in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 106, 107;
his frescoes in the Sala dei Nove, 139-141;
other works by him, 147, 179, 270;
frescoes by him in the Servi, 277, 278;
works in San Francesco, 285;
a Madonna by him in Sant' Eugenio, 301;
frescoes of his school in Lecceto and San Leonardo, 309, 310, 313.
---- Pietro, painter (working between 1305 and 1348), 104;
pictures by him in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 106, 107;
his works in the Opera del Duomo, 179;
frescoes attributed to him in the Servi and in San Francesco, 277, 284;
picture in San Pietro Ovile, 286.
Lorenzo di Mariano. See Marrina.
---- di Pietro. See Vecchietta.
Luca di Tommè, painter (died in 1381), 107, 108.
Lucari, Buonaguida, Dictator before Montaperti, 13, 14.
Luca di Bartolo, architect (middle of Quattrocento), 252.
Luna, Don Juan de, Spanish Governor of Siena, 218.
_Lupa_, legend of origin of the, 1.
Luti, Lodovico, Sienese exile, 82;
murdered by Pandolfo Petrucci, 85.
M.
Machiavelli, Niccolò, on the Noveschi, 80;
on Pandolfo's rise to power, 80, 81;
on Florentine interference in Sienese factions, 83;
on Antonio da Venafro, 85;
his account of Cesare Borgia's attempt upon Siena, 86-88;
his legation to Siena, 91;
his appreciation of Pandolfo, 93;
his correspondence with Francesco Vettori, 215 (and note);
at the Palazzo del Magnifico, 248.
Maconi, Corrado, 289.
---- Giovanna, letter of St Catherine to, 57.
---- Lano, killed at Pieve del Toppo, 21.
---- Stefano di Corrado, disciple of St Catherine, 48, 57, 59,
61, 62, 66, 187, 289.
Maiano, Benedetto da, sculptor (1442-1497), his Ciborium in San
Domenico at Siena, 202;
his shrine of Santa Fina, 348, 349;
other work in the Collegiata of San Gimignano, 351;
his shrine of San Bartolo, 356.
---- Giuliano da, architect and sculptor (1432-1490), probably
built the Rifugio and the Palazzo Spannocchi at Siena, 278, 290;
altered the Collegiata of San Gimignano, 345;
designed the chapel of Santa Fina, 348.
Mainardi, Sebastiano, painter (died in 1513), portrait ascribed
to him in the Palazzo Saracini, 251;
native of San Gimignano, 342;
his works there, 349, 351, 353, 356, 357, 362.
Maitani, Lorenzo, architect and sculptor (died in 1330), the
presiding genius of the Duomo of Orvieto, 99;
his proposal to the General Council for a new Duomo in Siena, 149, 150.
Malatesta, Malatesta dei, imperial vicar in Siena, 31-34, 37.
Malavolti, family of the, 2, 5, 25, 37, 40, 68;
the Poggio de', 292.
---- Filippo, leads Sienese crusaders, 5;
holds office of Podestà, 6.
---- Francesco, disciple of St Catherine, 47, 48.
---- Girolamo, at Belcaro, 304.
---- Maghinardo, podestà of San Gimignano, 327.
---- Orlando, opposes the Duke of Milan, 68;
is murdered, 68, 69.
---- Orlando, historian of Siena, quoted or referred to, 18, 32, 33, 73, 232;
his embassy to Charles V., 220, 222;
his opposition to Piero Strozzi, 232.
Malena, the, 17.
Malfetta, Cardinal. See Innocent VIII., Pope.
Mariano da Genazzano, Fra, 129, 130, 273.
Manfred, King of Sicily and Apulia, 10, 11, 13, 18, 19.
Manfredi da Sassuolo, podestà, leads the nobles against the people, 8.
Marcellus II., Pope (Marcello Cervini), 159.
Marrina (Lorenzo di Mariano), sculptor (died in 1534), 102;
his chief works in Siena, 160, 247, 268, 276, 294.
Manetti, Rutilio, painter (1572-1639), 124, 125, 258, 266, 282, 292.
Martini. See Simone and Francesco di Giorgio.
Martinozzi, Giovanni, a leader of the Noveschi, joins rising
against Fabio Petrucci, 98, 210;
exiled, 212;
in the papal camp before Siena, 213;
harries the Valdichiana, 215;
returns to Siena and is killed, 216.
Matteino di Ventura Menzani, Captain of the People, leads the
Sienese against Charles IV., 33, 34.
Matteo di Giovanni, painter (1435-1495), 109;
pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 114, 119;
in the Palazzo Pubblico, 142, 143;
work for Pavement of Duomo, 157, 158;
other pictures by him in Siena, 179, 265, 277, 292;
in the National Gallery of London, 301;
at Belcaro, 304;
at Buonconvento, 314.
Marignano, Marchese di. See Medici, Gian Giacomo.
Matilda, Countess, 2.
Marciano, Battle of, 235.
Medici, Cosimo de', Duke of Florence (afterwards Grand Duke of
Tuscany), 132, 222, 225, 226, 228, 231, 232, 242-245, 275, 363.
---- Galeotto de', 98.
---- Gian Giacomo, Marchese di Marignano, conducts the last war
against Siena, 232, 233, 235, 240, 241, 242;
enters the city, 243.
---- Giovanni. See Leo X., Pope, at Belcaro, 304.
---- Giulio. See Clement VII., Pope.
---- Lorenzo, the elder, 74.
---- Lorenzo, the younger, 97, 248.
---- Pietro, 81, 82.
Memmi. See Lippo.
Mendoza. See Hurtado.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, architect, sculptor and painter (1475-1564),
his work for the Piccolomini, 169, 170;
his letters to his nephew on the subject, 170;
Bandini monument ascribed to him, 170.
Milanesi, Gaetano, 141, 179.
Minuccio and Francesco di Rinaldo, architects of Perugia, build
the Torre del Mangia, 132, 135.
Montalcinello, Sienese defeat at, 30.
Montalcino, quarrels between Siena and Florence concerning, 7, 10, 11, 12;
humiliation of, 18;
unsuccessfully attacked by papal forces, 213;
besieged by the imperialists, 228, 231;
last refuge of the Republic, 244;
capitulates, 244;
tavolette concerning, 275;
view of, from Monte Oliveto, 315.
Montaperti, Battle of, 14-17.
Montemassi, 11, 12, 137.
Montepulciano, quarrels between Siena and Florence concerning, 7, 11, 12;
given to Siena by Manfred, 18;
revolts after the fall of the Nine, 29;
returns to Siena, 29;
lost again, 67;
returns to Siena, 81, 82;
restored to Florence by Pandolfo, 89, 92;
St Catherine at, 195.
Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 314-323.
Montereggioni, 11, 76, 213.
Montfort, Guy de, Vicar of Charles of Anjou, 20, 331.
Montluc, Blaise de, Marechal of France, takes command in Siena, 233;
his heroic defence of the Republic and his Commentaries, 234,
235, 236, 239, 240, 242.
Monticchiello, heroic defence of, 228.
_Monti_, the meaning of the term, 21, 32, 33.
See Dodicini, Gentiluomini, Aggregati, Noveschi, Nobili Reggenti,
Popolo, Riformatori.
Morelli, Giovanni, 115, 123.
Moro, Cristoforo, Doge of Venice, 174, 175.
N.
Naddo di Francesco, Captain of the People, attempts to suppress a
rising, 38;
plots, and is executed, 39.
Neroccio. See Landi.
Neroni. See Riccio.
Niccolò Pisano, architect and sculptor (circa 1206-1278), his
coming to Siena marks an epoch, 99;
influence of his style upon Giacomo della Quercia, 100;
his pulpit in the Duomo, 162-166.
Neri di Donato, chronicler, 34.
Nine. See Nove.
_Nobili Reggenti, Monte dei_, 210, 211.
Nove, Magistracy of the, 21;
their rule, 23-25;
their fall, 26-28;
their Sala, 139-141.
Noveschi, the (Monte dei Nove), their beginning, 21, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39, 41;
share in the government, 67, 69;
struggle with the democratic orders, 75;
expelled from Siena, 76;
their return, 77, 78;
their prepotency in the State, 78-80, 85;
are divided among themselves,
98, 210;
renewed struggle with the democratic orders, 211, 213, 215;
are deprived of all share in the government, 216;
obtain a fourth part, 216;
favoured by the imperial agents in Siena, 218, 219, 220;
allegory of their return, 274.
O.
Oriuoli, Pietro di Francesco degli, painter (died in 1496),
fresco by him in the Baptistery, 183 (and note).
Osservanza, the, 298-301.
P.
Pacchia, Girolamo del, painter (1477-1535), 116;
his pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 118, 120, 123;
his frescoes in the House of St Catherine, 195;
in the oratory of San Bernardino, 285, 286;
altarpiece in San Cristofano, 289.
Pacchiarotti, Giacomo, painter (1474-1540), 115;
pictures by, 119, 120, 262;
his political escapade, 217, 218.
Pagliaresi, Neri di Landoccio, disciple and secretary of St
Catherine, 47, 56, 57, 195, 306.
Palio, the, 130, 131.
Pannocchieschi, Nello dei, 258.
---- Pagano dei, Bishop of Volterra, 328.
---- Ranieri dei, Bishop of Volterra, 329, 349, 365.
Paolino da Pistoia, Fra, painter (1490-1547), fresco in Santo Spirito, 282;
pictures at San Gimignano, 354, 362, 363.
Paolo di Giovanni, painter (latter part of Trecento), 107, 108.
---- di Maestro Neri, painter (active between 1343 and 1382),
his frescoes at Lecceto, 309, 310.
---- di Martino, sculptor (early Quattrocento), 158.
Parri di Spinello, painter, 143.
Pastorini, Pastorino, master in stained-glass, 159.
Patrizi, Patrizio, companion of Bernardo Tolomei, 316.
Paul IV., Pope (Giovanni Pietro Caraffa), 243.
Pavement of the Duomo, 154-159.
Pecci, family of the, Noveschi, 75.
---- Giovanni Antonio, historian, 94, 213.
---- Giovanni, canon, 214.
---- Guido, represents Pandolfo Petrucci at La Magione, 86.
---- Tommaso, his palace, 254, 257.
Pellari, Guelf family in San Gimignano, 331, 333.
Pecori, Luigi, historian of San Gimignano, 326, 333, 341, 355.
Perugino, Pietro Vannucci, painter (1446-1523), 115;
his picture in Sant' Agostino at Siena, 265.
Peruzzi, Baldassare, architect and painter (1481-1536), 116, 117;
an early work of his in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 118, 119;
his porticato for the Campo, 126;
early frescoes in the Duomo, 161, 162;
designs the high altar, 167;
other works ascribed to him, 177, 196, 262;
his praise of Beccafumi, 262;
designed the façade of Santo Spirito, 281;
his Sibyl in the Madonna of Fontegiusta, 294;
his later work at Belcaro, 303.
Petroni, Lodovico, member of the Balìa, 145.
---- Riccardo, Cardinal and decretalist, 162.
Petronilla, Santa, skirmish at, 11.
Pelori, Giovanni Battista, architect, 223.
Petrucci, family of the, leaders of the Noveschi, 75;
are exiled, 76;
return, 77, 78, 80;
excluded from the government, 216.
---- Agnolo, murdered by the people, 76.
---- Alfonso di Pandolfo, receives the Cardinal's hat, 92;
at the court of Leo X., 94;
execution of, 97.
---- Antonio, plots against the State, 70.
---- Antonio Maria, 257.
---- Aurelia (Borghesi), wife to Pandolfo, 80.
---- Bartolommeo, heads a rising, 218.
---- Borghese di Pandolfo, marries Vittoria Piccolomini, 92;
succeeds to his father's despotism, 93;
his character, 93, 94;
flies from Siena and is declared a rebel, 94;
goes mad, 98;
entertains the younger Lorenzo de' Medici, 248.
Petrucci, Celia, 300.
---- Eustacchio, 98.
---- Fabio di Pandolfo, flies from Siena and is declared a rebel, 94;
re-enters Siena with papal aid, 98;
his tyranny and expulsion, 98;
made governor of Spoleto, 216.
---- Francesco di Camillo, murders Giulio Bellanti, 97;
makes himself master of Siena, 98;
murders Marcello Saracini and is summoned to Rome, 98;
threatens Massa, 215;
restored to Siena, 216;
leads a tumult of the Noveschi, 216;
is declared a rebel, 218.
---- Giacoppo, 80, 81, 83;
his palace, 257.
---- Lattanzio, 97, 212.
---- PANDOLFO, leads the Noveschi, 75;
returns from exile, 77, 78, 80;
is given the command of the mercenaries, 80, 81;
knighted by the King of France, 81;
makes himself master of Siena, 82, 83;
his policy, 84;
his murder of Niccolò Borghesi, 85, 86;
attitude towards France and the Borgia, 86;
represented at La Magione, 86;
assailed by Cesare Borgia, 87, 88;
his exile decreed, 88;
leaves Siena, 89;
supported by France and Florence, 89;
re-enters Siena in triumph, 90;
his despotism and treacherous policy, 90, 91;
conspiracy of the Bellanti against him, 91;
character of the last years of his rule, 92, 93;
his death, 93;
his project for a porticato to the Campo, 126, 177;
his palace, 248;
site of his murder of Niccolò Borghesi, 253;
benefactor of Santo Spirito, 281;
of the Osservanza, 298, 299;
his tomb, 300.
---- Raffaello di Giacoppo, occupies Siena with papal aid, 94;
alliance with the Medici and the Pope, 94, 95;
butchers the Bellanti, 97;
is made a Cardinal, 97;
tumult at his burial, 97, 98;
his palace, 257.
Pettignano, Beato Piero, 21, 22.
Philip II., King of Spain, 242;
is invested with Siena as a vacant fief of the Empire, 243;
cedes it to Cosimo de' Medici, 243.
Pia, La, Sienese lady recorded by Dante, 258.
Piccinino, Jacopo, his war upon Siena, 70, 112, 144, 145, 270, 271.
Piccinelli. See Brescianino.
Piccolomini, family of the, 2, 5, 25, 27, 37, 40, 72, 73, 168;
palaces of, 251, 252, 253, 254.
---- Alessandro, bishop and man of letters, 168.
---- Alfonso d'Aragona, Duke of Amalfi, 216, 218.
---- Beato Ambrogio, 316.
---- Andrea (di Nanni Todeschini), received into the Monte del Popolo, 73;
submits to the regime of the Noveschi, 78;
intervenes between the rival factions, 82;
one of the delegates from Siena to Cesare Borgia, 89;
goes into exile, 90;
his daughter married to Borghese Petrucci, 92;
one of the heirs and executors of Pius III., his brother, 169;
his palace, 267.
---- Antonio, Archbishop of Siena, 168.
---- Antonio (di Nanni Todeschini), Duke of Amalfi, 73.
---- Ascanio (di Enea delle Papesse), Archbishop of Siena, 168;
his palace, 252;
referred to, 265.
---- Caterina, sister of Pius II., wife of Bartolommeo Guglielmi,
builds the Palazzo delle Papesse, 251, 252 (and note).
---- Enea delle Papesse, delivers Siena from the Spaniards, 225;
escapes during the siege, 239;
dies at Montalcino, 244.
---- ENEA SILVIO. See Pius II., Pope.
---- Francesco (di Nanni Todeschini). See Pius III., Pope.
---- Giacomo (di Nanni Todeschini), received into the Monte del Popolo, 73;
heir and executor of Pope Pius III., 169;
his palace, 267.
---- Giacomo di Anton Maria, refuses to marry the daughter of Don Juan, 218.
Piccolomini, Giovanni di Andrea, Cardinal Archbishop, 168.
---- Giovanni Battista, leads the rising against Fabio Petrucci, 98, 210.
---- Girolamo, Bishop of Pienza, 281.
---- Guido di Carlo, Senator of Rome, 175.
---- Laodomia, sister of Pius II. and wife to Nanni Todeschini, 73.
---- Piero, 30.
---- Silvio, father of Pius II., 284.
---- Tommaso, Bishop of Pienza, 160.
---- Vittoria Forteguerri, mother of Pius II., 284.
---- Vittoria di Andrea, wife of Borghese Petrucci, 92.
---- lady of the family of, praised by Montluc, 234.
---- See Bandini.
Pier Francesco Fiorentino, painter (latter part of Quattrocento),
his works in Siena, 110, 111;
in San Gimignano, 348, 351, 353, 354, 356, 362.
Pietro di Domenico, painter, (1457-1501), 114, 293.
Pietro di Lando, architect (still working in 1339), superintends
the building of the new Duomo, 150, 153.
Pini, Giovanni Maria, leads the Sienese at the Battle of Camollia, 214;
heads a tumult of Noveschi, 216.
Pinturicchio Bernardino, painter (1454-1513), 115, 118;
picture by, in the Istituto di Belle Arti in Siena, 124;
his Story of Fortune, 156;
his frescoes in the Chapel of the Baptist, 161;
his frescoes in the Library of the Duomo, 170-175;
remains of works in the Palazzo del Magnifico, 248;
his Assumption at San Gimignano, 354.
Pisano. See Giovanni, Giunta, and Niccolò.
Pitigliano, Count Lodovico of, 212.
Pietro del Minella, architect and sculptor (1391-1458), 101;
work on pavement of Duomo, 158;
on the font of the Baptistery, 182.
Pius II., Pope, (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), his early life, 71, 72;
Bishop of Siena, 72;
elected Pope, 72;
attempts to force the Sienese to admit nobles into the administration, 73;
his benefits to Siena, 73;
creates Pienza, 74;
his letter to the Balìa about Calixtus III., 112, 113;
gives relics to the Duomo, 160;
statue of, 162;
Bishop of Siena and raises the See to an Archbishopric, 168;
his nephew's devotion to, 168, 170;
ten scenes from his life frescoed by Pinturicchio, 171-175;
his account of the meeting of Frederick and Leonora, 173;
his enthusiasm for the Eastern Question and canonisation of
St Catherine, 174;
his death, 174, 175;
his episcopal ring, 180;
referred to, 197;
statue of, 265;
Tavolette of Biccherna and Gabella concerning him, 271;
raises a monument to his parents in the church, and stays in
the convent of San Francesco, 284;
his reception at the Porta Camollia, 294;
visits Lecceto, 312;
his visit to Monte Oliveto, 323.
Pius III., Pope (Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini), received
into the Monte del Popolo, 73;
mediates between the People and the Noveschi, 75;
his pacific influence, 77;
accepts the new regime of the Noveschi, 78;
presides at a solemn reconciliation in the Duomo, 78, 79;
his short papacy, 90;
referred to as Cardinal, 129, 130;
statue of in the Duomo, 162;
Archbishop, 168;
orders the altar of the Piccolomini and his own tomb, 168;
his character, 168;
his elevation to the papacy, attempt to reform the Church
and untimely death, 169;
builds the library of the Duomo, 170;
fresco representing his coronation, 170, 171;
his contract with Pinturicchio, 171, 175;
a Tavoletta di Gabella concerning him, 271.
Placidi, family of the, Noveschi, 216.
Placidi, Aldello, 213.
---- Neri, 76, 83.
Poccetti, Bernardo, painter (1542-1612), 124, 343, 356.
Pochintesta da Bagnacavallo, condottiere, 90, 94, 97.
Podestà, institution of the office in
Siena, 5, 6, 9, 10;
institution of the office in San Gimignano, 326, 327;
method of his election in latter town, 332, 333.
Poggibonsi, destruction of the Castello of, 331.
Poggio Imperiale, battle of, 74, 138.
Pomarelli, architect, 177.
Ponsi, Girolamo di Domenico, architect, 188.
Pollaiuolo, Pietro, painter (1443-1496), his altarpiece at San Gimignano, 350.
Popolani (in the special sense of members of the Monte del
Popolo), 67, 73, 75, 78, 79, and _passim_.
Popolo, Monte del, institution of, 67;
supports the Milanese suzerainty, 68;
has a third of the Signoria, 69;
the Todeschini received into, 73;
supports the Duke of Calabria, 74;
gets control of the State, 75, 76;
ousted by the Noveschi, 78;
has still nominally a third part of the government, 79;
annulled with the other Monti, 210;
restored, 211.
Possa, El (Domenico di Michele), 138.
Provenzano Salvani. See Salvani.
---- Madonna di, 283, 284.
Provveditori. See Biccherna.
_Pugna_, _Giuoco delle_. See _Giuoco_.
Q.
Quercia, Giacomo della, sculptor (1371 or 1374-1438), his
life and work, 100, 101;
his Fonte Gaia, 127;
sculptures of his school, 143, 161;
remains of his reliefs from the Fonte Gaia, 176;
his work on the Font of the Baptistery, 181, 182.
---- Priamo della, painter (brother of Giacomo), his fresco
in the Spedale, 186.
R.
Raimondo, Beato. See Vigne.
Ramo di Paganello, sculptor (working during the last twenty
years of the Trecento), 99;
his St Francis, 284.
Raphael, 171, 174, 175.
Riformatori, origin of the Monte de', 32, 33;
their rule, 40;
their downfall, 41, 42;
instance of their oppressive administration, 48;
partially readmitted to the government, 69, 70;
their Monte suppressed, 74;
struggle with the Noveschi, 75, 76;
are distributed among the three Monti, 79;
rise against the Noveschi, 82;
their Monte is restored, 216.
Rinaldini, family of the, 48, 289.
Riccio (Bartolommeo Neroni), architect and painter (middle
of Cinquecento), 117, 123, 166, 167, 219 (note), 262, 300, 320.
Rinaldo, Minuccio and Francesco di, architects, 135.
Robbia, Ambrogio della (early Cinquecento), sculptor, work
in Santo Spirito, 282.
---- Andrea della (1435-1525), sculptor, altarpiece in the Osservanza, 300.
Robert of Geneva, Cardinal Archbishop of Cambrai, commands the papal army, 54;
his sack of Cesena, 58;
elected pope, or antipope, as Clement VII., 62;
supported by Giovanna of Naples, 63;
St Catherine's description of his character, 63, 64.
Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, 289.
Rustici, Francesco (Rustichino), painter (died in 1626), 124, 162, 283.
Rosselli, Matteo, painter (1578-1650), picture at San Gimignano, 360.
Rossellino, Bernardino, sculptor and architect (1409-1464),
probably designed the Palazzo delle Papesse, 252.
S.
Sacchini, Enea, 214.
Salimbeni, family of the, 2, 5;
their feud with the Tolomei, 24, 25;
their turbulent conduct, 30, 31, 32, 33;
in arms for the Emperor, 33, 34;
are factious against the burghers, 37;
plot to seize Siena, 39;
are expelled, 40;
their friendship with St Catherine, 50, 59;
lead rising against the Milanese supremacy, 68;
their palace, 290;
love stories connected with them, 290, 291.
Salimbeni, Agnolino di Giovanni, friend of St Catherine, 50.
---- Arcangiolo, painter (latter part of Cinquecento), 124, 197, 202, 262.
---- Anselmo, hero of a _novella_, 290, 291.
---- Cangenova, 291.
---- Cione, 50.
---- Francesco, 68.
---- Giovanni di Agnolino, ambassador to the Emperor, 27;
counsels moderation, 27, 28;
is Podestà of Montepulciano, 29;
accidentally killed, 30.
---- Reame, 32, 291.
---- Niccolò, 32, 33.
---- Salimbene, 13.
---- Ventura di Arcangiolo, painter (end of sixteenth century), 124, 167.
Salvani, Provenzano, ambassador to Manfred, 11;
influential in the Republic, 11, 12, 13;
Podestà of Montepulciano, 18;
the ruling spirit in Siena, 19;
his act of humility, 19;
is killed at Colle, 20;
referred to, 131, 283.
Salvetti, family of Noveschi, 80.
---- Paolo, 81.
Salvi, Giulio, beheaded for treason, 231.
---- Ottaviano, Proposto, beheaded, 231.
Salvini, Luca, 226.
Salvucci, family of the, factious in San Gimignano, 328, 329,
333, 337-339, 340, 345.
SAN GIMIGNANO, its appearance, 324, 325;
its origin, 325, 326;
early history of, 326, 327;
wars with Volterra, 328;
factions and change of government, 328, 329;
Santa Fina of, 329, 330;
follows the fortunes of the Guelfs, 331;
its golden age, 332;
San Bartolo and Dante at, 333, 334;
its wars with Volterra and hostility to Henry VII., 334;
its poet, 334, 335;
the conspiracy of the Baroncetti, 335, 336;
trouble with Florence, 336;
first submission to Florence, 337;
the factious of the Ardinghelli and Salvucci, 337-339;
appeal of its poetic chronicler, 339;
final submission to Florence, 340-342;
under Florentine rule, 342;
its painters and famous men, 342, 343;
its walls and towers, 344;
the Collegiata or Pieve, 345-351;
the Palazzo Comunale, 351-354;
other palaces and towers, 354, 355;
Sant' Agostino of San Gimignano, 356-360;
San Pietro and Santa Chiara, 360;
the Spedale di Santa Fina, 360, 361;
San Girolamo and San Jacopo, 361;
the Porta della Fonte, 361;
other churches and buildings, 362, 363;
Cellole, 363;
the Rocca di Montestaffoli, 363, 364;
a day of festa at the Town of the Beautiful Towers, 364, 365.
Sano di Matteo, sculptor and architect (working from 1392
to 1434), designed the Loggia di Mercanzia, 247.
---- di Pietro, painter (1406-1481), 109;
his pictures in the Istituto di Belle Arti, 111, 113;
frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico, 139, 147;
other works by him in Siena, 251, 258, 271, 293;
his pictures in the Osservanza, 299, 300.
Sansedoni, Frate Ambrogio, 305.
Saracini, family of the, 2, 37;
lead rising against the Riformatori, 41;
take part in riot in the Campo, 130;
their palace, 248-251.
---- Alessia, associate of St Catherine, 47, 62, 66, 204.
---- Ippolito, hero of a _novella_, 291.
---- Marcello, murdered, 98.
---- Piero di Duccio, podestà of San Gimignano, 336.
---- Sapia, the Dantesque legend of, 20, 22.
Savini, Nanni, gives Belcaro to St Catherine, 303.
Saviozzo. See Forestani.
Savonarola, Fra Girolamo, reforms the convent of Santo
Spirito at Siena, 268, 281;
his preaching at San Gimignano, 350, 351, 362.
Scotti, family of the, 41, 130.
Senius, legendary founder of Siena, 1, 2.
Sermini, Gentile, novelist, 291.
Schiatte Maggiori, the, 2, 31.
Sigismund, Roman Emperor (Luxemburg), 71, 72, 158, 270.
Signorelli, Luca, painter (1441-1523), 115, 118, 119, 202, 248;
his frescoes at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 317, 320, 321.
Segna di Tura, painter (working in the early years of the
Trecento), 103, 104, 105.
Sfondrato, Francesco, 218, 274.
SIENA.
Accademia di Belle Arti. See Istituto.
S. Agostino, 265, 266.
Archivio di Stato, 268.
S. Barbara, 295.
Baptistery. See San Giovanni di Siena.
S. Bernardino, 285, 286.
Biblioteca Comunale, 291, 292.
Campansi, 293.
Campo, 126-132.
Carmine, 261, 262.
Casato, 266.
Casino de Nobili. See Loggia di Mercanzia.
S. Caterina (House and Oratories of), 191-198.
Castello Vecchio, 248, 258, 261.
Cimitero della Misericordia, 266, 317.
Consuma, Casa della, 292, 293.
S. Cristofano, 289.
Croce del Travaglio, 246.
Duomo, 149-170.
S. Domenico, 201-208.
Fontebranda, 190.
Fonte Gaia, 126, 127.
Fontegiusta, 293, 294.
Fonte Nuova, 292.
S. Francesco, 284, 285.
S. Giacomo in Salicotto, 276.
S. Giorgio, 282.
S. Giovanni di Siena, 180-183.
S. Giovanni in Pantaneto, 282.
S. Girolamo, 277.
Istituto delle Belle Arti, 103-124.
---- dei Sordo-muti, 261.
Libreria del Duomo, 170-176.
Loggia di Mercanzia, 247.
Loggia del Papa, 275, 276.
S. Maria degli Angioli, 281.
S. Maria Assunta, 149-170.
S. Maria delle Nevi, 292.
S. Maria di Provenzano (of the Visitation), 283, 284.
S. Maria dei Servi (of the Conception), 277, 278.
S. Martino, 276.
Mercato, 148.
Opera del Duomo, 176-180.
Palazzo Bichi, 289.
---- Buonsignori, 257.
---- Chigi, 254.
---- Fortegueri, 252.
---- Petrucci, 248.
---- Piccolomini dei Papeschi (del Governo), 267-275.
---- Piccolomini delle Papesse, 251, 252.
---- Marsili, 252.
---- Pecci (del Capitano), 254, 257.
---- Pubblico (Comunale, or de' Signori), 132-148.
---- Reale, 257.
---- del Rifugio, 278.
---- Salimbeni, 290, 291.
---- Saracini (Marescotti), 248-251.
---- Spannocchi, 290.
---- Tolomei, 289.
---- Turchi (de Diavoli), 295.
---- Ugurghieri, 266.
Vecchio del, 290.
S. Pietro Ovile, 286.
S. Pietro alle Scale, 258.
Porrione, 266.
Porta Fontebranda, 302.
---- Camollia, 294, 295.
---- S. Marco, 262.
---- Ovile, 240, 292.
---- Pispini, 281.
---- Romana, 278, 281.
---- Salaia, 247.
---- Tufi, 266.
Postierla, Piazza, 253, 254.
Pozzo della Diana, 262.
Salicotto, 276.
S. Quirico, 261.
S. Sebastiano in Valle Piatta (degli Innocenti), 188.
---- in Camollia, 293.
S. Spirito, 281, 282.
Stalloreggi, 258, 261.
Torre di S. Ansano, 261.
---- de' Forteguerri, 252.
---- del Mangia, 132, 135.
---- Miganelli, 289.
Sixtus IV., Pope (Francesco della Rovere), 74, 272.
Simone Martini, painter (circa 1285-1344), his style, 104;
his frescoes in the Palazzo de Signori, 135-137;
picture by him in Sant'Agostino, 265, 266;
imitation of his manner, 286.
Sorri, Pietro, painter (1556-1622), 124, 168, 197.
Sozzini, Alessandro, diarist of the siege, 218, 219, 222,
224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 232, 234, 235, 236, 239, 241.
---- Bartolommeo instrumental in the return of the Noveschi, 78;
Captain of the People, moves to reduce the four Monti to one, 272.
---- Fausto, 282.
---- Lelio, 282.
---- Ottavio, 226.
Spannocchi, Ambrogio, 290.
---- Fabio, 242.
Spinello Aretino, painter (1333-1410), pictures in the
Istituto di Belle Arti, 108;
frescoes in the Sala di Balìa, 143, 144.
Stefano di Giovanni, "Sassetta," painter (died in 1450), 109, 110, 300.
Strozzi, Benedetto di Giovanni, his judicial murder of the Ardinghelli, 338.
Strozzi, Piero, vicar-general of France in Siena, 232, 233;
his defeat at Marciano, 235, 236, 239, 240, 301.
T.
Taddeo di Bartolo, painter (1363-1422), his works in
Siena, 108, 141, 142, 180, 187, 277, 284;
at San Gimignano, 345-347, 351, 353.
Tagliacozzo, Battle of, 19.
Talamone, Port of, purchased by Siena, 23;
Urban V. received at, 30;
Charles IV. demands possession of, 33;
St Catherine negotiates with Gregory XI. concerning, 58, 59;
represented in a fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 140;
occupied by Andrea Doria, 212;
retained by Spain as part of the _Praesidia_, 243;
Dante's reference to it in the _Purgatorio_, 262.
_Tavolette di Biccherna e di Gabella_, 269-275.
Tino di Camaino, architect and sculptor (died in 1336), 99, 134, 162.
Tini, Fra Niccolò, prior of Lecceto, 306-308.
Tournon, Cardinal de, 224.
Todeschini, Nanni, brother-in-law of Pius II., received
into the Monte del Popolo, 72.
Todeschini, family of the, declared popolani, 72. See Piccolomini.
Toldo, Niccolò di, his execution, 48-50;
scene of, 148;
Bazzi's representation of, 204.
Tegliacci, Niccolò di Ser Sozzo, miniaturist, 275, 350.
Tamagni, Vincenzo, painter (1492-1533), 342, 343, 350, 356, 357, 361, 362.
Tolomei, family of the, 2, 5; their palace, 6, 9;
head the Guelfs, 19;
factious against the Salimbeni, 24, 25, 30, 37, 48, 68, 289;
their palaces, 289.
---- Beato Bernardo, 23, 26;
Bazzi's picture of, 239, 266, 289;
his life and work, 315, 316, 317.
---- Cavolino, the slayer of Provenzano Salvani, 20.
---- Giacomo, converted by St Catherine, 47.
---- Girolamo, ambassador to Charles V., 220;
his report, 222;
is poisoned, 224.
---- Guccio, 27.
---- Lelio, patriotic address to the Senate, 222;
is poisoned, 224.
---- Mino, father of B. Bernardo, 315.
---- Nello di Mino, Podestà of San Gimignano, 353.
Torrita, Victory of the Sienese at, 29;
represented in the Palazzo de' Signori, 137, 138.
Troghisio, Francesco, Podestà of Siena at Montaperti, 14.
Tura, Agnolo di chronicler, his account of the Black Death, 25, 26.
Turchi, Biagio, murdered, 76.
Turino di Sano, sculptor (early Quattrocento), 101, 181, 182.
Turino, Giovanni di, sculptor (1384-1455), 101, 142, 160, 181, 182.
Twelve. See Dodicini.
Twenty-four, Magistracy of the, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20.
U.
Uberti, Farinata degli, 10, 12.
---- Fazio degli, 26.
Uberti, Neri degli, Podestà of San Gimignano, 329, 331.
_Ufficiali sopra l'ornato_, 246, 247, 267, 286.
Ugurghieri, family of the, 266.
---- Giovanni, fell at Montaperti, 159.
Urban V., Pope (Guillaume Grimoard), at Talamone, 30.
---- VI., Pope (Bartolommeo Prignani), elected Pope, 59;
makes peace with Florence, 60;
his character, 61;
his relations with St Catherine, 62, 63;
his struggle with the Clementines, 63, 64;
St Catherine's last letter to him, 65;
he is assailed by the Romans, 65;
his fall, 65.
Urbano da Cortona, architect and sculptor (died 1504),
102, 157, 158, 159, 160, 171 (note), 192, 252, 284.
V.
Vaga, Perino del, painter (1500-1547), 159.
Valori, Filippo, 81.
Vanni, Francesco, painter (died in 1609), 124, 162, 197, 204, 205.
----. See Andrea and Lippo.
Vasari, Giorgio, 116, 117, 123, 124, 258, 262, 265, 317, 320.
Vasto, Marchese del, 217.
Vecchietta, Il (Lorenzo di Pietro), architect, painter,
and sculptor (1412-1480), 101, 102, 109, 110, 119, 139, 247.
Venafro, Antonio da, secretary of Pandolfo Petrucci, 84;
urges the murder of Niccolò Borghesi, 85;
messenger to Cesare Borgia and represents Pandolfo at La Magione, 86;
interviewed by Machiavelli, 91;
his answer to a Pope, 92;
secures the succession of Borghese Petrucci, 93;
by whom he is banished, 94.
Ventura, Niccolò di Giovanni, Sienese chronicler, on the
Battle of Montaperti, 16.
Venturini, Camillo, avenges the death of his father, 78.
---- Lorenzo di Antonio, 78, 273, 274 (note).
Vettori, Francesco, his letters to Machiavelli on the rout
of Camollia, 215 (and note).
Vico, the Prefetto di, 40.
Vieri, Giulio, 242.
Vigne, Fra Raimondo delle, confessor and biographer of St Catherine, 47;
her letter to him, 48-50;
he goes to John Hawkwood, 52;
at Avignon, 56, 57;
St Catherine appeals to Gregory XI. through him, 58;
he is suspected by the Sienese, 59;
St Catherine's letter to him on the Florentine tumult, 60;
at Rome, 62;
St Catherine rebukes his pusillanimity, 64;
her last letter to him, 66;
his report of her reception of the Stigmata, 197;
picture of, by Francesco Vanni, 205;
referred to, 207, 208.
Villani, Giovanni, Florentine chronicler, 11 (note), 16 (note), 331.
---- Matteo, Florentine chronicler, 339, 340, 363.
Villari, Pasquale, 16 (note), 91.
Visconti, Bernabò, tyrant of Milan, relations with St Catherine, 51;
dethroned, 67.
---- Giovanni Galeazzo, tyrant of Milan, attempts the conquest of Italy, 67;
made Duke of Milan, 68;
obtains the suzerainty of Siena, 68;
dies, 68.
Vito di Marco, sculptor (late Quattrocento), 156, 157.
Vittorio Emanuele II., frescoes concerning him in the Sala Monumentale, 144.
Volterra, Bishops of, 313, 326-331.
W.
Wenceslaus, King of the Romans (Luxemburg), 68.
Z.
Zuccantini, Claudio, Captain of the People, 220;
his oration in the Duomo, 220-222.
PRINTED BY
TURNBULL AND SPEARS,
EDINBURGH
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Rondoni (_Sena vetus_, p. 53) notes that, in contrast to Florence,
there was no distinction between the Greater and Lesser Arts in Siena.
[2] Printed in the _Archivio Storico Italiano_, series III. vol. xxii.
[3] Siena is still divided into _terzi_ or thirds; the Terzo di Città,
the Terzo di San Martino, the Terzo di Camollia.
[4] Rondoni, _op. cit._ p. 60.
[5] Letter of August 11th, 1259, still preserved in the Archivio di
Stato of Siena, quoted by Paoli, _La Battaglia di Montaperti_, p. 13.
[6] The documents cited by Paoli prove conclusively that the story,
told by Giovanni Villani, of Farinata contriving that the Germans
should be annihilated at Santa Petronilla and the royal standard lost,
in order that Manfred might be induced to send a larger force, has
no historical foundation. Neither is it a fact that the Sienese were
forced to induce the Florentines to resume hostilities because the
Germans had been hired for only three months.
[7] The Sienese accounts of the battle by Domenico Aldobrandini
and Niccolò di Giovanni Ventura (in which, says Prof. d'Ancona,
the narrative has "una grandezza veramente epica") are in Porri's
_Miscellanea Storica Senese_; for the Florentine version see Villani,
vi. 75-79, and Leonardo Bruni, _Istoria Fiorentina_ II. (vol. i.
pp. 215-225 in the edition of 1855). _Cf._ Villari, _I primi due
secoli della Storia di Firenze_, ch. iv., and especially C. Paoli,
_La Battaglia di Montaperti_, already referred to. _Il Libro di
Montaperti_, edited by Prof. Paoli (Florence, 1889), is "the only
official document of Florentine source which remains to us of that
war."
[8] _Purg._ xiii. 115-123.
[9] _Inf._ xiii. 120; _Purg._ xiii. 128.
[10] J. A. Symonds.
[11] _Assempro_ II.
[12] Agnolo di Tura, _Cronica Senese_, 122-124.
[13] Malavolti, ii. 7. p. 132.
[14] Neri di Donato, _Cronica Senese_, 202-206.
[15] In the continuation (wrongly ascribed to Agnolo di Tura) of the
_Cronica Senese_.
[16] _Op. cit._ 294.
[17] _Leggenda minore_, i. 12.
[18] Augusta Drane, vol. i. p. 83. I think that this author
unquestionably deserves to be called the best of Catherine's modern
biographers; but the reader must be warned against her historical
inaccuracies and her treatment of some of the Saint's political
letters.
[19] Raimondo da Capua, _Leggenda_, p. 226.
[20] _I.e._, since his first Communion--that at least seems the more
obvious meaning of _la quale mai più aveva ricevuta_.
[21] Letter 273.
[22] Letter 272.
[23] Letter 11.
[24] Letter 28.
[25] Letter 29.
[26] Letter 109.
[27] Letter 140.
[28] Letter 168.
[29] Letters 185, 196, 206, 209, 218, 229. She has no thought of the
Pope's return as a temporal sovereign. (_Cf._ letter 370.)
[30] Letter 207.
[31] Letter 240.
[32] Letter 247.
[33] Letter 252.
[34] Letters 270, 267. These have obviously been transposed in
chronological order.
[35] Letter 285.
[36] Letter 291.
[37] Letter 295.
[38] Letter 303.
[39] The Dialogue, _Il Dialogo della Serafica Santa Caterina da
Siena_, will be found in Gigli, vol. iv., and has been translated
(somewhat freely) into English by Mr Algar Thorold. To the Dialogue
and the Letters, we should add the _Trattato della Consumata
Perfezione_ and a short collection of prayers, also printed in Gigli,
_L'opere_, etc., vol. iv.
[40] Letter 306.
[41] Letter 310.
[42] Letter 317.
[43] Letter 349.
[44] Letters 350, 362, 357, 372.
[45] Letter 370.
[46] Letter 373.
[47] Barduccio's letter to a nun at Florence, describing every detail
of Catherine's death, will be found in the Appendix to the _Leggenda_.
[48] See pp. 144, 145.
[49] Pastor, II., p. 147.
[50] Armstrong, _Lorenzo de' Medici_, p. 178.
[51] _Diari Senesi_, 836, 837.
[52] Zdekauer, _Lo Studio di Siena nel Rinascimento_, pp. 119-124.
[53] Letter of August 18th, 1500, published by F. Donati in
_Miscellanea Storica Senese_, i. 7.
[54] Letters of January 6th, 8th, 10th, and 13th from Machiavelli
to the Signoria. In the _Legazione al Duca Valentino_ (vol. vi. of
edition cited).
[55] In Lisini, _Relazioni tra Cesare Borgia e la Repubblica Senese_,
and elsewhere. It is dated January 27th, and had probably been
delivered (though this has been questioned) before Pandolfo left.
[56] In Mondolfo, _Pandolfo Petrucci_, p. 99.
[57] _Niccolò Machiavelli e i suoi Tempi_, i. pp. 502, 503.
[58] The letters of this Legation in vol. vii. of edition cited.
[59] By a decree of the Balìa on September 14th, 1509; but this was
not quite such a recognition of his dynasty as might appear, because
a similar exception was made in 1518 (though only in their own homes)
for some of the Piccolomini.
[60] _La Sculpture Florentine_, i. p. 134.
[61] M. Reymond, _op. cit._, ii. p. 46.
[62] Duccio is last referred to as alive in a document of June, 1313,
and in 1318 his widow Taviana is described as _uxor olim Duccii
pictoris_. See A. Lisini, _Notizie di Duccio Pittore_, p. 33. On
Duccio's characteristics as a painter, the best thing is written by Mr
Berenson, _Central Italian Painters_, pp. 18-42.
[63] _i.e._ The officials of the Gabella; see Chapter IX.
[64] The text of the Bull and Enea Silvio's letter in L. Banchi, _Il
Piccinino nello Stato di Siena e la Lega Italica_ (1455-56), in the
_Archivio Storico Italiano_, Series IV., vol. iv., pp. 56-58. See also
next chapter, pp. 144-147.
[65] Berenson, _op. cit._ p. 56.
[66] _Italian Painters_, i. p. 158.
[67] Berenson, _op. cit._ p. 56.
[68] That is to say, if the Matteo Balducci who is mentioned as
Pinturicchio's pupil in a document of January 1509 is the same as
the Matteo Balducci who in 1517 became Bazzi's pupil for six years.
Frizzoni (_L'Arte Italiana del Rinascimento_, p. 183) holds that they
are two different persons.
[69] _Miscellanea Storica Senese_, v. 11, 12.
[70] See V. Lusini, _Storia della Basilica di San Francesco_, pp.
99-101.
[71] _Diari_, 809. The Cardinal mentioned is Francesco Piccolomini.
[72] See A. Lisini, _Misc. Stor. Senese_, iv., 5, 6. Mr Heywood's
admirable little book, _Our Lady of August and the Palio of Siena_,
deals exhaustively with this aspect of the past history and present
life of the Sienese. The horse races of the Campo had originally
nothing to do with the contrade, but were run by the Republic. Foreign
nobles, even reigning sovereigns, entered horses, no less than did
Sienese notabilities. On August 15th, 1492, the palio was won by a
horse belonging to Cesare Borgia; but because his jockey (_fantino_)
had won by a trick of questionable legality, the Signoria made some
difficulty about giving him the prize--apparently at the appeal of
the representative of the Marquis of Mantua whose horse had come in
second. (See Cesare's letter in Lisini, _Relazioni tra C. Borgia e la
Repubblica Senese_, pp. 11, 12.)
[73] See A. Lisini, _Chi fu l'architetto della Torre del Mangia_, in
the _Misc. Stor. Senese_, II., 9, 10.
[74] The fullest account of these frescoes is contained in Milanesi,
_Commentario alla Vita di Ambrogio Lorenzetti_, Vasari I. pp. 527-535.
Apart from the great beauty of the individual figures, the spiritual
power and imaginative insight of the whole conception are surely
worthy of the century of Dante and Petrarch. But for a very different
appreciation, see Mr Berenson, _op. cit._, pp. 50, 51.
[75] L. Banchi, _Il Piccinino nello Stato di Siena_, etc., _loc.
cit._, pp. 226-230; Malavolti, iii. 3, pp. 51b, 52.
[76] _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, i. p. 188.
[77] Not to be confused with the more famous Gregorio da Spoleto,
Ariosto's master, who held a chair here in the latter part of the
fifteenth century.
[78] _Purg._ xii 10-93.
[79] _Nuovi Documenti per la Storia dell'Arte Senese_, p. 389.
[80] Mr R. H. Hobart Cust (to whose excellent _Pavement Masters of
Siena_ I am indebted for many of these dates and authorships of the
pavement designs) points out that the Cimmerian Sibyl is the one
intended.
[81] The _Lupa_ and _Marzocco_ shaking hands in front of the tablet
refers to the alliance between Siena and Florence concluded in the
year 1483, in which this Sibyl was laid down. In Allegretto's _Diari
Senesi_, under June 16th, 1483, we read: "The League was proclaimed
on a chariot between the Signoria of Siena and the Florentines, with
honourable conditions, according to what Giovan Francesco called Il
Moro, the trumpeter of the Signoria, said. God grant it be true; for I
cannot believe it!" (_Diari_, 815).
[82] We can measure the proportionate value attached to the designing
and executing of these works from the fact that in the case of
the painter Matteo, who only designed and did not execute, the
remuneration was four _lire_, whereas Federighi, who both designed and
executed his Erythraean Sibyl, received nearly 650 _lire_. See Cust
_op. cit._ pp. 41, 47.
[83] _Op. cit._ p. 152.
[84] See Pietro Rossi, _L'Arte Senese nel Quattrocento_, p. 38.
[85] Folgore, translated by J. A. Symonds.
[86] See the fine sonnet sequence entitled _Niccola Pisano_ in _Rime
e Ritmi_. The sculptor is said to have copied his Madonna from the
Phaedra on the antique sarcophagus used as a tomb for the Countess
Beatrice.
[87] There is an eloquent appreciation of the pulpit in Mr F. M.
Perkins' _Giotto_, pp. 8-13.
[88] V. Lusini, _Il San Giovanni di Siena_, p. 23 (_note_). Giacomo
was paid 52 golden florins and 34 soldi for his work.
[89] Pastor, vi. p. 201. There appears to be absolutely no foundation
for the aspersions made by Gregorovius and other writers upon the
moral character of this really admirable personage. Cf. _op. cit._, p.
199 (_note_).
[90] _Nuovi Documenti_, pp. 362, 364-368, 560.
[91] The bas-relief of St John Evangelist, over the altar to the
right of the entrance, is the mediocre work of some sculptor of the
Quattrocento, possibly Urbano da Cortona.
[92] See the document in Milanesi, Vasari III., pp. 519-522.
[93] _Cf._ G. W. Kitchin, _Pope Pius II._, p. 36.
[94] _Historia Friderici III. Imp._, p. 73.
[95] See _Misc. Storica Senese_, iv. 7-8.
[96] The question is well discussed in Miss E. March Phillipps'
monograph on Pinturicchio, pp. 116-123.
[97] Anonymous Chronicle existing in the Archivio di Stato and the
Biblioteca Comunale, quoted by Lisini, _Notizie di Duccio_, p. 5.
[98] Berenson, _Central Italian Painters_, p. 117.
[99] _Op. cit._, p. 41 (_note_).
[100] In the Appendix to V. Lusini, _Il San Giovanni di Siena_, there
are a number of interesting letters about the progress, etc., of the
work, from Ghiberti to the Operaio del Duomo and Giovanni di Turino,
and from Giacomo to the Signoria.
[101] _Cf._ M. Reymond, _op. cit._, II. p. 98.
[102] _Cf._ Documents concerning the authorship of this fresco in
Lusini, _op. cit._ p. 60 (_note_).
[103] See Alessio, _Storia di San Bernardino_, p. 60 (and _note_).
[104] Letter 321.
[105] _Leggenda minore_, i. 2.
[106] Rondoni, _Tradizioni popolari e leggende_, etc., p. 150.
[107] _Nuovi Documenti_, pp. 240, 241.
[108] _Documenti_, II. pp. 326, 339; _Nuovi Documenti_, p. 239.
[109] _Leggenda_, pp. 205, 206.
[110] See pp. 48-50.
[111] This does not refer to Bazzi's fresco, but to an earlier picture
figured in Gigli, I. p. 24; possibly Andrea di Vanni is meant, as it
closely resembles his work.
[112] See the Deliberations of the Balìa and the Concistoro for July
21st and 22nd, in Pecci, _Memorie_, _etc._, II. pp. 211-213.
[113] Letter of August 5th, 1526, in Machiavelli, _Lettere familiari_
(_Opere_, edition cited, vol. viii. p. 208). In answer to Machiavelli,
Vettori gives further details in a letter of August 7th (_loc. cit._
pp. 210-214); "I believe," he says, "that on other occasions it has
happened that an army fled at shouts, but that it should fly for ten
miles, without anyone pursuing it--this I do not believe has been
ever read nor seen." According to the Sienese accounts the papal army
numbered some 18,000 men and lost more than 1000, while 150 Sienese
were killed. Vettori says that 400 foot soldiers and 50 light cavalry
issued out of Siena and put to flight 5000 infantry and 300 horsemen;
but he evidently refers only to the sally from the Porta Fontebranda.
[114] Sozzini, _Diario_, p. 24.
[115] Sozzini, _op. cit._ pp. 26, 27.
[116] In the sonnet written in the name of the Mangia of the Tower of
the Campo (the figure, removed in 1780, that sounded the hours, a kind
of Sienese _Pasquino_) to the painter Riccio. Appendix to Sozzini,
Document xiv.
[117] I have given this in full as a specimen of these donations of
which we hear so often in the story of Siena. No less characteristic
is the reply of the officiating canon, Antonio Benzi: "Your great
and profound humility, Most Illustrious Lords, is manifestly founded
on Faith, Hope and Charity. Faith is shown by the desire of uniting
yourselves with our most just Saviour, receiving into your souls
His most holy Body; Hope is shown by the consigning and restitution
of the keys of your City to the most glorious Queen of the Heavens;
Charity, by the vow of marrying the maidens in perpetuity by your
free Republic. We, albeit unworthy of so great an office, in the name
of Blessed Christ and of His Immaculate Mother, accept your vows and
oblations. We remind you that Faith without works is said to be dead;
that whoso trusteth in God with pure heart, will be immovable as Mount
Sion; and that Charity unites us with God. Therefore have living
Faith, firm Hope and ardent Charity; to the end that you may obtain
your desire and that your City may be preserved in true liberty to the
honour of God and of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, our Advocate and of
all the faithful Christian people." (Appendix to Sozzini, _Diario_,
Documents vi. and vii.)
[118] See the Genealogical Table of the Family of Pius II.
[119] _La Cacciata della Guardia Spagnola da Siena_, pp. 522, 523. The
"twentieth hour" means four hours before sunset, or about four o'clock
in the afternoon.
[120] _Diario_, pp. 89, 90.
[121] Sozzini, p. 93.
[122]
Cardinale, Cardinale,
Tu ci rechi poco sale;
Siena, Siena, verrà il medico,
E ti guarirà dal farnetico.
Quoted in Rondoni, _Siena nel secolo_ xvi. p. 250. For other prophetic
doggerel of the same kind ascribed to Brandano, see Olmi, _I Senesi
d'una volta_, p. 270. Brandano died in Siena during the siege, in May
1554.
[123] _Giornale dell' Assedio della Città di Montalcino_ printed in
the _Archivio Storico Italiano_, Appendix, vol. viii.
[124] Malavolti, iii. 10, p. 160_b_.
[125] _Ibid._ p. 161; Sozzini, pp. 157, 158.
[126] In this and subsequent quotations from Montluc I have availed
myself of Cotton's translation of the Commentaries.
[127] Sozzini, _Diario_, p. 307.
[128] _Op. cit._ p. 317.
[129] _Trattenimenti_, i. pp. 8-10. He adds hideous details of their
mutilation at the hands of the Spaniards, which have too frequently
been quoted; Sozzini (who tells us that on one occasion the Spaniards
succoured the fugitives, p. 376) mentions once that some contadini
had their noses and ears cut off, but neither he nor Montluc gives
any other hint of the peculiar hideousness and atrocity of Bargagli's
version.
[130] See Mr Montgomery Carmichael's excellent and picturesque account
of the _Spanish Praesidia_, in _In Tuscany_, pp. 283-314.
[131] _Nuovi Documenti_, p. 76.
[132] _Nuovi Documenti_, p. 75. These officers were first appointed in
1413.
[133] _Nuovi Documenti_, p. 201. She says that she has had the house
designed by _uno valentissimo maestro_; but does not name him. See
also P. Rossi,_L'Arte Senese nel Quattrocento_, pp. 27-29.
[134] Bargagli quoted by A. Marenduzzo, _Veglie e Trattenimenti
Senesi_, p. 14.
[135] The Captain of War--afterwards the Senator--will not be confused
with the Captain of the People. The one was an alien noble, the other
a Sienese burgher.
[136] _Diari Senesi_, 775, 776.
[137] _Purg._ v. 133-136.
[138] Vasari.
[139] V. Lusini, _Il San Giovanni di Siena_, p. 14.
[140] "That vain folk which hopes in Talamone, and will lose more hope
there than in finding the Diana," _Purg._ xiii. 151-153. The Diana
was a subterranean stream supposed to exist under Siena for which,
in 1295, the General Council of the Campana decreed that the search
should be undertaken.
[141] _Documenti_, ii. p. 337; _cf._ Allegretto, _Diari_, 773. Notice
the title _Spectabilità_; in a less democratic city than Siena, they
would have been _Magnificence_. Incidentally, we may observe (a
point frequently missed by English writers, especially of fiction
dealing with the Italian Renaissance) that _Magnificence_ was a
much less pretentious title at the end of the Quattrocento than it
sounds to us now, being little more than the equivalent of "Your
Worship" or "Your Honour" (though also applied to ambassadors); while
_Excellence_ was, until the middle of the sixteenth century, reserved
for quasi-independent potentates, such as the Duke of Ferrara or the
Marquis of Mantua, ruling fiefs of the Church or Empire.
[142] See pp. 88, 89. In reading these documents, it should be borne
in mind that the Sienese and Florentine year (but not the Roman) began
on March 25th. The same rule applies to the dates on the Tavolette of
the Biccherna and Gabella.
[143] Rondoni, _Sena Vetus_, p. 37. For further information upon the
_Tavolette_ the reader may be referred to Mr W. Heywood's charming
little book, _A Pictorial Chronicle of Siena_, to which I am indebted.
[144] _Cf._ Heywood, _op. cit._ p. 69.
[145] "The fury of arms having cooled down on every side, the Pope
[Paul II.] easily found means to conclude an universal peace between
the powers of Italy, wherein was named the Republic of Siena, in the
name of which it was accepted and ratified by Messer Niccolò Severini,
Sienese orator in Rome, in the month of May 1468." Malavolti, iii. 4,
p. 70 b.
[146] _Diari Senesi_, 813. The Cardinal Malfetta is G. B. Cibo,
afterwards Innocent VIII., _cf._ p. 76.
[147] _Diari_, 815, 816. The Lorenzo di Antonio mentioned is the
Venturini who was executed in 1486 (see p. 78).
[148] _Cf._ Sozzini, _Diario_, pp. 23, 24 (where, however, Gabella is
confused with Biccherna), and Heywood, _op. cit._ pp. 87, 88.
[149] For various documents touching these votive pictures after the
Battle of Camollia, see _Nuovi Documenti_, pp. 434, 435.
[150] _Nuovi Documenti_, p. 245.
[151] Dante, _Purg._ xi. 109-111.
[152] See Gigli, _La città diletta di Maria_, pp. 29-35. The houses of
Provenzano Salvani's family were in this part of the city--hence the
name.
[153] See the Deliberation of the _Concistoro_ for July 2nd, 1460,
_pro porta Sancti Francisci_, in Lusini, _Storia della Basilica di San
Francesco_, p. 123 (_note_).
[154] _Nuovi Documenti_, pp. 222-224. The _Ufficiali sopra l'Ornato
della Città_ are proposing to make a fountain on the Poggio de'
Malavolti.
[155] The imposing tower at the back of the Palazzo Tolomei, at the
beginning of the Via dei Termini, is the Torre Miganelli or Castelli,
in which the public bells were hung.
[156] See the _Miscellanea Storica Senese_, iii. 4, p. 59.
[157] The story of Anselmo and Angelica is inserted in the _Annali
Senesi_ under 1395, and is told by Sermini and Ilcino. That of
Ippolito and Cangenova (which from the mention of Messer Reame should,
if historical, be referred to the same epoch) is related by Olinda in
Bargagli's _Trattenimenti_.
[158] The sole value--and that is not much--of Fortini's work lies in
such little transcripts from Sienese life in the Cinquecento. The rest
is sheer pornography, and the man's life was as vile as his novels are
filthy.
[159] _Cf._ Alessio, _op. cit._ pp. 103, 104.
[160] _Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece_, iii. p. 68.
[161] Landucci, _Sacra Leccetana Selva_, pp. 76-79.
[162] _Assempro_ xl. It was this Frate Bandino who founded the convent
of Sant' Agostino in Siena.
[163] _Assempro_ xli. is the life of Niccolò Tini.
[164] Letter 326, written from Rome, December 15th, 1378.
[165] Mr Heywood, in his account of these frescoes (_The Ensamples
of Fra Filippo_, pp. 227, 228), appears to have missed this, the
essential point of the allegory.
[166] _Assempro_ xxiv.
[167] _Nuovi Documenti_, pp. 202, 203.
[168] For further details, see Antonio Canestrelli's admirable
monograph, _L'Abbazia di San Galgano_.
[169] Oraffi (_Vita del B. Bernardo Tolomei_, pp. 44-72) gives what
is said to be the text of this homily. It may, possibly, be a genuine
work of the Saint, but as it speaks of "the schism arisen in the
Sacred Empire, now many years ago, between Frederick of Austria and
Ludwig of Bavaria," it could not have been delivered on this occasion.
[170] Frizzoni, _op. cit._ p. 115.
[171] _Cf._ Frizzoni, _op. cit._ p 117.
[172] _Commentarii_, x. pp. 482-484.
[173] _Storia della Repubblica di Firenze_, i. pp. 389, 390.
[174] A. C. Swinburne, _Relics_.
[175] There are two hotels in San Gimignano: the Albergo Centrale and
the Leone Bianco. The present writer's experience has been confined to
the Albergo Centrale, which is pleasantly situated and excellent for
so small a town.
[176] Pecori, _Storia della Terra di San Gimignano_, p. 41.
[177] Coppi, _Annali, memorie, etc._, pp. 108-114. I have spared
my readers some of the details of "cette existence d'expiation."
Not many of us can look upon these things with the eyes of M. J.-K.
Huysmans, in his _Sainte Lydwine de Schiedam_: "Elle fut, en somme,
un fruit de souffrance," he writes of Lydwine, whose life was very
like a prolonged version of Fina's, "que Dieu écrasa et pressura
jusqu'à ce qu'il en eût exprimé le dernier suc; l'écale était vide
lorsqu'elle mourut; Dieu allait confier à d'autres de ses filles le
terrible fardeau qu'elle avait laissé; elle avait pris, elle-même, la
succession d'autres saintes et d'autres saintes allaient, à leur tour,
hériter d'elle" (p. 291).
[178] Pecori, p. 113.
[179] In May 1899, San Gimignano kept the sixth centenary of Dante's
embassy, and it was on this occasion that the real date 1300 (instead
of 1299, as hitherto supposed) was discovered.
[180] Rossetti's translation.
[181] Sonnet 33 in Navone's edition.
[182] _Cronachetta di San Gimignano_, 163-171.
[183] Matteo Villani, iii. 22, 46, 55, 69: Pecori, pp. 168-171.
[184] _Cronachetta_, 8-21.
[185] iii. 73.
[186] The conditions of this final submission are given in full in
Pecori, pp. 174-179.
[187] With the exception of the churches of Cellole and San Pietro,
San Gimignano is in the diocese of the Bishop of Colle. The chief
ecclesiastical dignitary of the town, the head of the Collegiata,
is the _Proposto_ or Provost--at present the learned Don Ugo
Nomi-Pesciolini, whose invariable kindness and courtesy to visitors
are well known to English travellers.
[188] See the list given by Mr Berenson, _Florentine Painters_, pp.
132-134.
[189] "The bones of a virgin lie hidden in the tomb which thou
beholdest, stranger; she is the glory, the example, the guardian of
her fellow-citizens. Her name was Fina; this her native land. Dost
thou seek miracles? Scan what the wall and life-like statues teach."
[190] It has been argued that the last line of the epitaph proves that
the frescoes were painted not later than 1475; but this is not by any
means conclusive, as the subjects had probably been settled from the
beginning.
[191] So I gather from Fra Matteo and Pecori; other writers call it
the Palazzo Ardinghelli.
[192] See the _Confessions_, i. 9.
[193] _Confessions_, viii. 12.
[194] _Ibid._ ix. 10, 11.
[195] See above, p. 330 (and _note_).
[196] iii. 96.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
Piazzo del Campo=> Piazza del Campo {pg 100}
instarsia is the work of Fra Giovanni da Verona of 1503=> intarsia is
the work of Fra Giovanni da Verona of 1503 {pg 167}
ike Francis of Assisi, to to have received=> ike Francis of Assisi, to
have received {pg 197}
Ufficali sopra l'Ornato=> Ufficiali sopra l'Ornato {pg 267}
It walls are covered=> Its walls are covered {pg 285}
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