Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government

[0:00] [music]

Dr. Steven Zucker: [0:04] We’re in the Palazzo Pubblico, or town hall, in Siena.

Dr. Beth Harris: [0:08] Remember that Siena was a city-state. It was its own country. It had its own government. We think about Italy as a unified country, but back in the 14th century, Italy was divided into city-states. Siena was one, and it was a very proud republic.

Dr. Zucker: [0:23] It was very wealthy through manufacturing and banking, primarily. In fact, well into the 14th century, the city was known as the bankers to the papacy.

[0:32] In addition, the city gained a tremendous amount of wealth because it was on the road between France and Rome. Anybody who was going on a pilgrimage would stop here, and of course the city would enjoy the benefits of that tourist trade.

[0:46] There were two main centers of power in the commune that was Siena. That was the church, and that’s exemplified by the Duomo at the top of the hill. And then down here, just at the bottom of the field — or what is known as the Campo — sits the Palazzo Pubblico. In one of the main meeting rooms where the rulers of the city, The Nine, met, we have an extraordinary series of frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.

Dr. Harris: [1:11] Those are meant to remind the rulers of the city their responsibilities to be good and just.

Dr. Zucker: [1:19] And the dangers of not doing so. Let’s describe for a moment the room itself.

[1:23] On one wall, there is a set of windows, but on the other three, major frescoes by Lorenzetti. Opposite the windows is the “Allegory of Good Government.” To the right of that are the “Effects of Good Government in the City and the Country.” Then, opposite that is what happens when tyrants take over.

Dr. Harris: [1:41] And it’s ugly.

Dr. Zucker: [1:42] Very bad.

Dr. Harris: [1:43] Let’s start with the “Allegory of Good Government.”

Dr. Harris: [1:46] Allegory means figures that stand in for ideas. We might want to note first that the door where The Nine would enter is right beneath the personification of justice, who sits looking up to another figure who personifies wisdom.

[2:02] Justice is doing just that. She’s meting out justice. In her hands, she’s got scales, with an angel on either side. On her left, she metes out justice in the form of a reward, and on the right, as punishment.

Dr. Zucker: [2:17] That is quite the punishment. An angel in the right scale is cutting the head off somebody who clearly was guilty.

Dr. Harris: [2:24] But it’s important that she looks up to Wisdom.

Dr. Zucker: [2:26] Now, you’ll notice that there’s a small cord that goes from each of those scales down to a seated figure who has, in her lap, a plane. That is, the kind of tool that a carpenter would use to smooth rough spots, or in this case, to create a certain degree of equality among the different levels of society. That plane has the word “concordia” written on it.

[2:49] It’s just at about that point that those two cords from the angels in the scales come together and are handed to the figure in a blue robe. That cord then winds its way through all of the figures who are standing at the bottom, figures that are meant to represent the people of Siena.

[3:07] They are all held in line, held in check, by these cords that come from Justice herself. If we move to the head of that line, we can see the cord rises. It’s held by the largest figure. That is the personification of the good commune.

Dr. Harris: [3:23] This figure is surrounded by various virtues.

Dr. Zucker: [3:26] On the left, you can see Peace. In fact, the hall in which we stand is called the Hall of Peace, named after her.

Dr. Harris: [3:32] She’s reclining. She’s relaxed. It’s almost as if if everything else is working, if all of these other figures — Justice, Concord, Fortitude, Prudence — if they’re all working, there’s peace and there’s nothing much for her to do.

Dr. Zucker: [3:46] She relaxes, by the way, on a cushion, but if you look under the cushion, you can see black forms. That is meant to be armor. Originally, it would have been silver, but it’s oxidized over time. She’s taken off her armor. She can now relax.

[4:01] As you said, if all of these allegorical figures are doing their job, then the city is at peace. Prosperity can reign. There is a very clear image of that in the fresco on the right. This is “The Effects of Good Government In the City and In the Country.”

Dr. Harris: [4:18] We see the walls of the city of Siena.

Dr. Zucker: [4:21] We should caution that probably the first few feet on the left are a restoration and are not by Ambrogio. This is one of the most ambitious, perhaps — the largest landscape and cityscape, certainly, that existed in the medieval…I can’t even think of a Renaissance painting that is more ambitious than this.

Dr. Harris: [4:40] And its subject is secular. It’s not a biblical scene. That’s important at this time when the vast majority of art being made would have been biblical.

Dr. Zucker: [4:49] Let’s take a look at the cityscape. What we have is a place where commerce can flourish, where there is plenty, where there is no privation, where there is justice and art and culture. We have a kind of utopia. It’s remarkable. If you think about the history of paradise and the way that it’s represented, paradise is always seen in nature.

[5:11] Yet here we have the earliest example that I can think of where paradise exists in an urban context. That is, where man is in control of his society and can produce, through careful governing, an environment where humanity can flourish. I love architecture, and it’s pretty clear that Ambrogio loved architecture, too.

Dr. Harris: [5:31] He did, and it’s really packed with people, and it feels bustling, and like a city where the citizens are engaged in commerce and are well-to-do. We see something that looks like a hosiery shop, with people selling boots and socks.

Dr. Zucker: [5:48] In the foreground, probably the largest group of figures are a group of women dancing in wonderfully elaborate costume. This is clearly symbolic.

Dr. Harris: [5:58] This is likely some allegory about the peace and prosperity that comes from good government.

Dr. Zucker: [6:03] What I love is the fact that the city is open to our gaze. You can look into all these shop windows. You can see a lecture, perhaps a school, with somebody at a lectern and students listening actively.

Dr. Harris: [6:14] And a place where you can buy ham and meat next door, too.

Dr. Zucker: [6:17] There are people going about their daily activities. If we look up, we can see faces in some of the windows. And my favorite passage, you can actually see construction workers who are actively building the city.

Dr. Harris: [6:31] I love this idea that the leaders of Siena would be able to look at this and see, “If I do my job right, this is what my city will be.”

Dr. Zucker: [6:39] That was taken so seriously. The Nine were only allowed to be in office for two months because there was such a fear of corruption. Every two months, each of the members of the city council would be exchanged for another member of the aristocracy.

Dr. Harris: [6:52] Let’s look at the effect of good government in the countryside. This looks like the landscape around Siena. There’s a real sense of the observation of the natural world, which is so unusual and new for this time.

Dr. Zucker: [7:04] If you look carefully, you can see some figures on horseback that are just leaving the city. These are obviously wealthy aristocracy. In fact, one holds a falcon. They’re going out hunting. As you go a little further, you can see a peasant who is walking into the city with a pig, clearly bringing that pig to market.

[7:21] There are donkeys that are bringing grain from the fields. In the distance, there is a combination of both the season of spring and the season of summer. We see both the sowing of the fields and harvesting going on. So when you’re looking at the “Allegory of Good Government,” to your right is “The Effects of Good Government in the Country and the City,” but opposite that is “Bad Government.”

[7:45] That’s on the left wall, so you have this notion of right — of justice, of the good, and you have this notion of the left, of evil, of having gone astray. The main figure that is in opposition to Justice, if you look carefully, looks just like a devil with horns, fangs, but in back of that male figure is the word “tyranny,” and so we have justice and tyranny who are in opposition.

[8:10] Tyranny is surrounded not by virtues, but by vices. You can see, for instance, avarice, vainglory. Down below is a bound figure, and here we see, sadly, Justice, who is no longer ruling the city. This fresco is in very poor condition, but we can just make out a series of criminal acts. All of this is enclosed within an architecture that is the architecture of war.

[8:34] We can see a crenelated wall that speaks of defense and attack. Beyond the allegorical figures, we can see a city, but this is not a city that’s still being built. This is a city that’s being destroyed. The walls have holes. The windows have been broken, and there’s a sense of fear among the citizenry.

Dr. Harris: [8:51] In fact, I see below a woman being carried off by two men in a very menacing scene, and below them, a fallen wounded figure.

Dr. Zucker: [9:01] To the left of the city, we see fields, but these fields have been burned. We can see the flames of houses on fire, and it is a place of want, of neglect, and of fear. In fact, the word “terror” rides over the landscape. This room becomes a very clear message, both a promise and a threat, to the government of Siena.

[9:22] It is an extraordinary expression of the way in which morality can be portrayed in the most direct sense in the place that it’s needed most.

Dr. Harris: [9:32] What’s really interesting to me is that when we walk to the center of this room and look through a doorway, we see Simone Martini’s “Maestà of the Virgin,” based on Duccio’s “Maestà,” which is in the cathedral.

Dr. Zucker: [9:47] The Virgin Mary, reigning queen of Siena, taking her place beside the allegorical symbol of justice, both seated, both enthroned.

Dr. Harris: [9:56] And this idea that the Virgin favors Siena, and in favoring Siena has given it a republic that the government of Siena must now protect.

[10:06] [music]

Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena (Matthew Brennan, on Sketchfab)

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