The 14th Century 51119-14Pietro Lorenzetti,Birth of the Virgin,
from the altar of Saint Savinus, Siena Cathedral, Siena,
Italy, 1342. Tempera on wood, 6 1 5 11 . Museo
dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.
In this triptych, Pietro Lorenzetti revived the pictorial
illusionism of ancient Roman murals and painted
the architectural members that divide the panel as
though they extend back into the painted space.1 ft.19-15Aerial view of the Campo with the Palazzo
Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1288–1309.
Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico has a slightly concave facade
and a gigantic tower visible from miles around. The
tower served both as a defensive lookout over the
countryside and a symbol of the city-state’s power.visitors to the city, inspiring in them respect for the republic’s power
and success. The tower served as lookout over the city and the coun-
tryside around it and as a bell tower (campanile) for ringing signals of
all sorts to the populace. Siena, like other Italian city-states, had to de-
fend itself against neighboring cities and often against kings and em-
perors. In addition, it had to be secure against the internal upheavals
common in the history of the Italian city-republics. Class struggle,
feuds between rich and powerful families, and even uprisings of the
whole populace against the city governors were constant threats. The
heavy walls and battlements(fortified parapets) of the Italian town
hall eloquently express how frequently the city governors needed to
defend themselves against their own citizens. The Sienese tower, out