Siena and the Virgin: Art and Politics in a Late Medieval City State

City governance and visual impression management: Visual semiotics and the Biccherna panels of Siena

“…The principles represented in the Allegory of Good Government might be abstract, allegorical ideas, but they formed the basis of everyday practicalities, such as just methods of taxation (Boucheron, 2005(Boucheron, : 1169. The frescoes include scenes extending beyond the city itself to convey harmony with the surrounding contado (Norman, 1999), and depict the iconic antique religious symbol of the church of San Cristoforo, thus incorporating the religious within the civic ideal. These harmonious ideals of governance continue to be celebrated in the Biccherna panels and their visual impression management of civic administration, city and church, and city and contado.…”

“…Heraldry provides the second set of signs. A host of 'insignia' or 'marks of corporate or individual identity dominated the visual landscape of late medieval and renaissance Europe' (Lincoln and Rihouet, 2013: 681-682), even in primarily religious paintings in Siena such as Simone Martini's Maestà (1315) (Figure 5), which includes carefully worked heraldry in its canopy (Norman, 1999). Heraldic shields were forerunners of portraits in medieval Europe, and the crests carry important semes.…”

“…the eternal safety' (Figure 4B). The cult of the Virgin Mary was of paramount importance in Siena, and her image was the focus of both ecclesiastical and civic religious devotion, exemplified by the Duccio Maestà (1308-1311) at the heart of ecclesiastical life over the cathedral's high altar, and the more courtly Martini Maestà (1315) (Figure 5), which makes specific reference to Mary as a ruler, on the wall of the principal council chamber in the Palazzo Pubblico (Norman, 1999). She was at the heart of the religio-political ideology of the city, and its 'exercise of just and stable government' (Norman, 1999: 65).…”

“…Our reading of secondary historical sources (Bowsky, 1970(Bowsky, , 1981Norman, 1999) together with consideration of Lorenzetti's celebrated Allegory of Good Government fresco (1338-1339) led us to identify for analysis three key areas where idealized visions of administrative practice arguably provided 'coping mechanisms' for dealing with underlying realities and complexities. These are: the sophisticated administrative system of the city itself where in reality practice was often defective; the relationship between city and church, intertwined but where relations were often strained; and the symbiotic but tense relationship between the city and its contado, or surrounding rural areas.…”

“…The Biccherna office was located on the ground floor of the Palazzo Pubblico, a prestigious civic building open to the public and used to impress visitors to the city (Steinhoff, 2016). The Biccherna accounts were extensively audited (Catoni, 1975;Moscadelli, 1982), and then presented to 200-500 members of the General Council of the city (Bowsky, 1970;Norman, 1999). The panels were subsequently maintained as public records or hung as wall paintings in the Palazzo Pubblico (Catturi, 2013).…”