Museo Civico, Art museum in Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy
The Museo Civico occupies the first floor of Palazzo Pubblico and displays medieval and Renaissance frescoes across several decorated rooms. The collection spans multiple centuries and documents the artistic evolution of the city through its most important works.
The building dates to the 1300s and originally served as the seat of the city council before becoming a museum. Preserving the original council chambers documents how medieval Siena governed itself through these historic rooms.
The Sala del Mappamondo displays Simone Martini's Maestà, a devotional image showing Madonna with saints, alongside an equestrian portrait of military captain Guidoriccio da Fogliano. These works side by side reflect how Siena balanced religious authority with earthly power during the 1300s.
The museum is reached through the Cortile del Podestà entrance from Piazza del Campo, which offers wheelchair access. Visiting fits naturally into a walk through the city center since the building sits in Siena's heart.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes of the Allegories of Good and Bad Government from 1338 rank among the earliest secular painting cycles of the medieval world. These works expressed political ideas through images rather than words, which was groundbreaking for the time.
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