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 Duomo di Siena - Siena, Italia Posted by:  razalas
N 43° 19.043 E 011° 19.715
32T E 688822 N 4798693
Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
Waymark Code: WMZEX9
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 10/31/2018
Views: 3
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Duomo di Siena
"The Cathedral is one of the most remarkable examples of Italian Romanesque-Gothic.
The close link between Siena and the Virgin dates back to the 4th of September, 1260, date of the famous Battle of Montaperti between Siena and Firenze: on the eve of this battle all the Sienese went to the cathedral to give the keys of the city to the Virgin, and after the victory, Siena became the “City of the Virgin”.
We have documents about its construction starting in December 1226, such as the receipts for the purchase of white and dark green marbles that cover the building, following the typical style of the Tuscan Romanesque.
It’s in April 1259 that we register a payment of six “soldi” (currency) to Nicola Pisano, among the most innovative artists of the thirteenth century, to whom we owe the famous Pulpit, today placed in the left transept of the Duomo. His son Giovanni Pisano, in the years between 1285 and 1297, was the key figure in the construction of the lower part of the facade, with his sculptures of prophets, sibyls and philosophers that once adorned the facade and are now kept inside the Museum of the Opera del Duomo, replaced by accurate copies. The lower area consists of three portals and the top one, with a large “eye” in the centre, is divided into three parts, crowned by spires and pinnacles.
The dome is instead completed in 1263 (the lantern is a complete reconstruction in the style of 1667).
It is not possible to express in words the magnificence of the interior of the Cathedral. The artwork, exceptional in many ways, is the floor, “... the most beautiful…, great and magnificent... that was ever done”, as defined by Giorgio Vasari: a Bible in images with 56 marble squares with inlays and graffiti made between 1369 and 1547 following the design of famous artists such as Matteo di Giovanni, Domenico Beccafumi, and Pinturicchio. To protect integrity and beauty, it is uncovered only for a few months every year.
Nicola Pisano made the grandiose Pulpit (1268), his son Giovanni Pisano the sculptures of the facade, Donatello a statue of the Baptist and the tombstone of Giovanni Pecci, Michelangelo sculpted San Pietro e San Paolo, San Pio and Sant’Agostino for the Piccolomini altar, Gian Lorenzo Bernini the Mary Magdalene and the San Girolamo in the Cappella del Voto, where we can admire the Madonna del Voto attributed to Dietisalvi di Speme, to which the Sienese are traditionally very devoted. Finally, the stained glass by Duccio di Boninsegna, once located above the apse, was recently transferred in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo and replaced with a copy.
The Piccolomini Library is itself a monument of absolute importance for the cycle of frescoes by Pinturicchio, between 1505 and 1507, depicting the biography of Pius II and the sparkling grotesques vault."
Retrieved from the official turism website:http://www.enjoysiena.it
Address:
Siena, Italy
Religious affiliation: Roman Catholic
Date founded or constructed: 1226
Web site: [Web Link]
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