Italian cities . decora-tion,— a Gothicism which is rather belated forthe time. There is little of the thoughtful andbalanced ornament of the contemporaneous chapelof the Spaniards in Florence, and little of theaustere elegance of the Bargello. During the turbulent life of the old common-w^ealth generation after generation of artists wascalled to embellish this house of the people. Itwas the central jewel of the citys civic crown, thetheatre of her municipal dramas, the focus of herpolitical life. As such, it was loved and respectedby all the different factions which each in its turnruled and
Italian cities . decora-tion,— a Gothicism which is rather belated forthe time. There is little of the thoughtful andbalanced ornament of the contemporaneous chapelof the Spaniards in Florence, and little of theaustere elegance of the Bargello. During the turbulent life of the old common-w^ealth generation after generation of artists wascalled to embellish this house of the people. Itwas the central jewel of the citys civic crown, thetheatre of her municipal dramas, the focus of herpolitical life. As such, it was loved and respectedby all the different factions which each in its turnruled and misruled Siena. The decoration of thepalace went steadily on, no matter who held thereins of government. Defeated candidates mightbe thrown from the windows, riot might break upthe council, strife disperse the magistrates, thepainters stipends were punctually paid. Minoritiesflew to arms and majorities abused their victories;delation whispered in dark corners, and party hatred 60 SIENA SALA IN PALAZZO PUBBLICO. SIENA hunted its victims through these echoing chambers;the fresccmti labored quietly on, celebrating therepublics triumphs, the glories of her popes, or thecoronation of her heavenly sovereign, and throughthe dissensions which made Siena a byword for civicdiscord, the famous artists of the school. Martiniand Lorenzetti and Querela and Lando, left theirhandwriting on these walls and made of this thetypical town-hall of Italy. In the Sala del Gran Consiglio, divided nearlydown the centre by a line of heavy arches, Sienesepainting may be seen at its best and worst. InSim ones great lunette filled by a charming andastonishingly decorative composition there is beautyof a delicate character in the heads of thesaints, and tlie narrow-lidded, purse-mouthed Ma-donna has a grace and distinction unknown toGiotto. But in Ambrogio di Lorenzos battle ofTurrita (1363), where the little jointed lay figuresmove across a flat, map-like background showingevery hill and stream and hamlet
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1903
