Siena Cathedral

Siena Cathedral, also called the Duomo di Siena, is a beautiful old church in Siena, Italy. It is very important to the people of Siena and shows their history and culture. Building started in the early 1200s and took many years. It went slower after a big sickness came in 1348.

The cathedral was built where an older building once stood. It has the shape of a Latin cross. Special parts include a dome with a hexagonal base and a bell tower with six bells. The oldest bell was made in 1149. Inside, the main area is separated from the side areas by curved arches. The outside and inside are made from white and greenish-black marble with red marble on the front. These black and white colors are special to Siena. They represent the horses of the city's legendary founders, Senius and Aschius.

Many famous Italian artists helped build and decorate the cathedral. They include Nicola, Giovanni Pisano, Donatello, Pinturicchio, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Over time, the cathedral became the main church for the area. First, it was for the Diocese of Siena and later for the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino. Today, it is still an important religious and historical place.

Early history

The first building on the site of Siena Cathedral was a church from the 9th century. In 1058, an important meeting happened there to choose a new pope. In 1196, a group called the Opera di Santa Maria started building a new cathedral. By 1215, people were already holding daily services there.

Work continued for many years. In the 1250s, workers built the vaults and the transept. Artists carved beautiful wooden seats called choir-stalls and made a shiny copper ball for the dome. In 1287, they ordered colorful stained glass for a big round window. Plans in 1339 wanted to make the cathedral much larger, but building stopped in 1348. Today, you can still see parts of those old plans around the cathedral.

Façade

Work on the west façade of Siena Cathedral began around 1284. It was built with colorful polychrome marble. The designer was Giovanni Pisano, who got ideas from his father, Nicola Pisano. The façade has three big doors. Each door has special designs and sculptures. These show scenes from the Bible and important people.

Later artists changed some of Giovanni Pisano’s plans. They added a big rose window and made the façade taller. The top part of the façade has detailed decorations. These decorations are inspired by French Gothic style. This looks different from the simpler designs below it. Today, many of the statues are copies. The real ones are kept safe in a museum near the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

Interior

The Siena Cathedral has lovely black and white marble columns and walls, like the city's coat of arms. The columns have carved tops with pretty designs, and the ceiling is painted blue with shining golden stars. There is a big stained-glass window made in 1288 by Duccio, showing the Assumption of Mary. This is special because the cathedral is dedicated to her.

The dome has a golden top, and around it are paintings of important religious people. There are also special marble fonts and a grand high altar with careful carvings and statues. Behind the altar, there are wooden seats with lovely carvings made by artists long ago.

Pulpit

Main article: Pulpit (Siena Cathedral)

The pulpit in Siena Cathedral was made between 1265 and 1268 by the artist Nicola Pisano and others. It is made from lovely Carrara marble and shows scenes from the Life of Christ and stories about being saved. The pulpit mixes Gothic and classical styles, making it a special and important part of the cathedral. A staircase was added in 1543, and this moved the pulpit to where it is today.

The marble floor

The Siena Cathedral has a beautiful marble floor with many colorful designs. This floor was made over many years, from the 1300s to the 1500s, by about forty artists. It has 56 different pictures, some shaped like rectangles and others like hexagons or rhombuses. These pictures show stories from old times, wise people, and important figures from history.

You can only see the full marble floor for a few weeks each year, usually including September. Most of the time, some parts are covered, but you can still see a little bit near the entrance.

Main article: The marble floor

The nave has pictures from classical antiquity, which was unusual for a church of that time. These were added because two Sienese popes believed that knowledge from classical authors and figures was important. At the entrance of the nave is a scene with Hermes Trismegistus, who was seen as the founder of human wisdom. There is also The She-Wolf of Siena, showing a wolf with the symbols of major Italian cities, and Allegory of the Mount of Wisdom, showing wise men led up a path to Wisdom.

The side aisles have ten panels of the Sibyls, which are figures that represent different parts of the world at that time. Each Sibyl is shown against a black and red background.

The transepts and chancel show stories from the Bible. In the left transept, there are panels like The Expulsion of Herod and The Slaughter of the Innocents. The chancel has scenes from the lives of Elijah and Ahab, including Moses Striking Water from the Rock and Scenes from the Life of Moses on Mount Sinai. The right transept includes The Seven Ages of Man, showing the stages of a person’s life, and The Death of Absalom, among other scenes.

Main articles: Nave and aisles, Transepts and chancel

Works of art

The Siena Cathedral is full of wonderful artworks that make it feel like a museum. You can see The Feast of Herod by Donatello, along with pieces by famous artists like Bernini and the young Michelangelo. One famous painting, the Annunciation between St. Ansanus and St. Margaret, was made by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi. Though it used to hang in the cathedral, it now lives in the Uffizi in Florence.

The cathedral also has beautiful sculptures and monuments, like the funeral monument for Cardinal Riccardo Petroni made by Tino di Camaino. There are also artworks such as the bronze tombstone of Bishop Giovanni Pecci, made by Donatello, and the wall tomb of Bishop Tommaso Piccolomini del Testa by Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi. Many of the cathedral’s treasures, including Duccio’s famous Maestà altarpiece, are now kept safe in the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

Chapel of Saint John the Baptist

The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist is in the left transept of Siena Cathedral. At the back of the chapel, there is a bronze statue of St. John the Baptist. The artist Donatello made it around 1455. It is surrounded by beautiful Renaissance decorations. In the middle of the chapel is a marble font from the 15th century.

The chapel has eight frescos painted by Pinturicchio between 1504 and 1505. The frescos show scenes like the Nativity of John the Baptist, John the Baptist in the Desert, and John the Baptist Preaching. Pinturicchio also painted two portraits. They show a knight in armor and a man named Aringhieri.

The Chigi Chapel

The Chigi Chapel is a special part of Siena Cathedral. You can find it in the right transept. People built it in 1659, and it has a round shape with a golden dome. Two famous marble statues stand there. They are Saint Jerome and Mary Magdalene, made by the artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The chapel has a important painting called the Madonna del Voto. People still honor it today. Long ago, the people of Siena asked the Madonna for help before a big battle. They won against a larger army and believed she helped them.

Piccolomini Library

The Piccolomini Library was built in 1492 by Cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, who later became Pope Pius III. It was made to hold books from his uncle, Pope Pius II, in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Though many of the original books are gone, the library still has lovely decorated books.

The library's entrance has a big marble wall with tall arches, made by Lorenzo di Mariano in 1497. Inside, the walls are covered with colorful paintings by Pinturicchio from 1502 to 1507. These paintings show key events from the life of Pope Pius II. The ceiling has four parts with stories from myths, and the floor is blue tiles with moon shapes. In the middle of the room is a marble statue of the Three Graces.

Baptistry

Main article: Battistero di San Giovanni (Siena)

Unlike Florence or Pisa, Siena did not build a separate baptistry. Its baptistry is under the eastern part of the choir in the Siena Cathedral. The interior was built by Camaino di Crescentino and finished around 1325. The main feature is a hexagonal baptismal font. It has beautiful sculptures and reliefs made by famous artists Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, and Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Crypt

Under the main church is the cathedral's crypt. It was found again in 1999. People knew about it from old records but were not sure how much was left. The room had been filled with dirt and other things over time. In the late 1200s, artists painted bright pictures on the walls and pillars. These pictures show forty-five scenes from the Old and New Testaments, including the Passion of Jesus. They are framed by pretty geometric patterns and designs.