Ambrogio Lorenzetti War and Peace Murals Revisited

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's "War and Peace" Murals Revisited: Contributions to the Meaning of
the "Good Government Allegory"

Author(s): Joseph Polzer
Source: Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 23, No. 45 (2002), pp. 63-105
Published by: IRSA s.c.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1483682
Accessed: 11-07-2017 09:31 UTC
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JOSEPH POLZER
Ambrogio Lorenzetti's War and Peace Murals Revisi

Contributions to the Meaning of the Good Governm
As is well known, Ambrogio Lorenzetti's murals in Nicomachaean

Aristotle's the Ethics which became available dur-
Room of the Nine [Fig. 1] represent the views and ingaspirations
the second quarter, approximately, of the thirteent
of Siena's government under the rule of the ninecentury.3 chief magis-Skinner also showed that these murals repeated
trates. They formed Siena's highest executive council quotedduring
Brunetto Latini's encyclopaedic Tresor,4 a popular lat
the city's greatest period of prosperity covering Dugento roughly the written originally in French by a Florentin
treatise
first half of the Trecento when its artists and architects which was widely read at the time. Most probably, they also
achieved unprecedented international renown. quoted Latini's abbreviated Italian version: the Tesoretto.
Only in recent times has this mural cycle received deserved
Surveying the various modern discussions of this mural cycle,5
attention. Alessandro Lisini, realising their political significance,
it seems that many issues still remain open to clarification, cor-
states that he was the first to illustrate these murals in the fron-rection and/or revision. This study will address certain of these
tispieces of his two volumes covering the constitution of the issues focusing on the central image on the northern wall: the
state of Siena of 1309-1310, which he published early in the last Allegory of Good Government [Fig. 2]. It will also take into con-
century.1 It was the first constitution of an Italian commune writ- sideration certain significant changes in the mural cycle's origi-
ten in volgare, so that it could be consulted by any literate citi- nal appearance, including the extended use of bright metal leaf,
zen. During roughly the last fifty years their visual content and in its deteriorated aged condition presently changed into a dark
political agenda have been repeatedly investigated. In a venera- substance. It is documented by the sharp graven contours
ble study Nicolai Rubinstein incisively examined their intellectu- defining the areas where it was once applied, conforming to
al foundation, focusing on their Thomistic and Aristotelian con- widespread contemporary mural painting practice.6
tent.2 More recently Quentin Skinner modified Rubinstein's
views, showing that many of the murals' principal underlying
political ideas formed part of traditional medieval Italian com- Siena During the Later Thirties of the Trecento
munal propaganda, much of it based on ancient Roman
sources. This happened prior to the influence of Thomas According to the records of payments, Ambrogio's War
Aquinas and the Latin translations from Greek and Arabic of and Peace murals were painted from around February 26,
63
JOSEPH POLZER
October, 1338, a large part of the Bolognese studium migrated

briefly to Siena, thus stimulating its own studium and intellec-
tual life.10 And in the same year the commune engaged two
jurists: Nicolo di Angelo da Orvieto and Benamato di Michele
of Prato to revise the constitution of the state,11 a task com-
pleted in 1340.12 Altogether, given Siena's means the com-
bined cost of these projects was immense!
Unfortunately, this prosperity did not last. Later in 1339,
the very year in which Ambrogio completed the murals, the
crops failed, marking the beginning of severe famine and the
spread of epidemic disease.13 It is reported that the cost of
a bushel of grain rose to one gold florin! Only in January and
February of 1340 did grain arrive by sea to alleviate the hunger
in some measure.14 Luckily, Ambrogio completed his murals
before disaster struck. Had it been otherwise, who knows if
they would be here today.
1) Room of the Nine, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Foto Lensini. Some Comments Concerning the Sequential Early
Decoration of the Palazzo Pubblico Leading up to
Ambrogio's Murals
The state of Siena, in Tuscany then only second in power

1338 (modern calendar) to May 29, 1339.7 During these years to Florence, developed so quickly demographically and archi-
tecturally during the Dugento and the early years of the
Siena was at the height of its prosperity under the rule of the
Nine. A decade had passed since the German emperor Trecento that initially it could hardly attend to appropriate gov-
Ludwig of Bavaria had entered Italy, disturbing the political ernmental quarters. Prior to dealing with the construction of
balance of its city states, and that Castruccio, his principalthe latter, Dugento Siena first attended to the construction of
Italian supporter, an outstanding general and the scourge of its new cathedral, which by the end of the thirteenth century
the Tuscan Guelphs, had died. The Black Death of 1348, which was well advanced. The erection of a permanent governmen-
in all probability removed both Ambrogio and his brother tal building: the Palazzo Pubblico, followed around the turn of
Pietro from the ranks of the living, was yet to come. Agnolo di the century.
Tura writes in his chronicle of Siena's contemporary prosperi- It seems that prior to the existence of the Palazzo Pubblico
ty.8 The government, proud of its city, then financed many out- Siena's principal governmental bodies were housed in private
standing urban projects. The Torre del Mangia was then rising quarters rented by the state. Only in 1281 did the Sienese begin
beside the Palazzo Pubblico; the Campo: the shell-like piazza considering the construction of a communal governmental
facing the latter, was being paved with brick; and work on the palace: "quomodo habeatur palatium pro comuni senensi et in
Fonte Gaia at the center of the piazza was proceeding. With quo loco moretur dominus potestas et omnes officiales comunis
the completion of the eastern extension of the choir and the Senensis, quod sit et esse debeat proprium comunis."15 In the
lower baptistry supporting it, the cathedral had virtually later eighties the location of the latter was fixed on the present
assumed its present shape. Further, in the same year that site and gradually the necessary land was acquired. Actual con-
Ambrogio painted these murals: 1338, the commune decided struction began only around 1297, and by 1310 the palace had
on the construction of a new grand cathedral, which would achieved approximately its present form. It was then that the Nine
have turned the extant one into its transept! The project assumed residence in the right wing (seen from the Campo), and
exceeded the commune's means, and for this and structural not long after its mural decoration was under way.16
reasons eventually it came to nought.9 Its vastness can still be It can be assumed that the decoration of the Palazzo
appreciated from the portions still standing, including the Pubblico did not proceed in chaotic fashion, but that
impressive fagade: a "triumphal arch" dedicated to the memo- tions and themes of murals were carefully chosen. Accor-
ry of excessive civic ambition! It also happened that in dingly, the first ones introduced would have been the most
64
AMBROGIO LORENZETTI'S WAR AND PEACE MURALS REVISITED...
2) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, <<Allegory of Good Government,,, as in Fig. 1. Foto Lensini.
important mural there located since the texts representing the

urgently needed or significant. It is hardly by chance that the
Virgin's and the Christ Child's speech served to instruct
first murals of which we have records, located in the Sala del
Consiglio della Campana, represented certain of Siena's cur-
Siena's legislators regarding their civic duties [Fig. 4].
rent territorial acquisitions. One of these murals has recently Simone's was not the first Maesta to address Siena's legis-
come to light below Simone Martini's well known later lators. As early as 1289 we are informed that a master named
Guidoriccio mural, the grandest of this genre still in place [Fig. Mino painted the Virgin and "alios sanctos in palatio comunis in
3]. Interestingly, Simone Martini's Maesta, completed in 1315 Consilio." This Mino "...actavit maiestatem Virginis Marie que
or 1316 and partially repainted by him in 1321, was completed est in palatio comunis," and, in addition, a certain lacobuccio
after the earliest of these triumphal records. Covering the contributed a chandelier "in palatio comunis ante maiestatem
entire east wall of the legislative council hall, it was the most Virginis Mariae." Moreover, in June of the same year another
65
JOSEPH POLZER
3) West Wall, Sala del Consiglio della Campana, as in Fig. 1. Foto Kunsthistorisches Institut Flore
66
5) Duccio, Altarpiece, Detail: <(Virgin and Christ Child

Enthroned Flanked by Angels and Saints),, Museo dell'Opera
del Duomo, Siena. Foto Soprintendenza B.A.S. - Siena.
4) Simone Martini, <<Maesta>>, as in previous Fig.

Foto Lensini.
saints flanking the Virgin and the four patron saints of Siena
kneeling before her, clearly corresponds to that of Duccio's
Siena Cathedral altarpiece, completed in 1311 [Fig. 5], in spite
of the fundamental difference in style. Nevertheless, the loss
painter named Dietisalvi added a gilded text below the Virgin of in
the two early Maestas deprives us of the means of measur-
Majesty: "ante maiestatem Virginis Mariae." This project was ing the originality of both Duccio's and Simone's paintings. In
quite ambitious. It can be assumed that this Mino, of whom noth-any case, Ambrogio and his advisors were fully aware of the
ing else is known, must have been a painter of a certain renown.presence of Simone' Maesta in the adjacent hall.
When Mino painted his Maesta Duccio's Rucellai Madonna sure-
ly already existed! Nor is this the only Maesta we know of which
decorated a Sienese public palace prior to Simone's mural. Four Ambrogio's Contribution
documents from the year 1295 record payments to a Guidonus to the Decoration of the Palazzo Pubblico
for an image of the Virgin Mary - one of these refers to
a "Maiestatem," in the palace of the commune. The painter also Sometime around the mid-thirties Simone Martini left Siena
added gilded script and contributed images of the two apostles permanently for Avignon, and with his departure the Lorenzetti
Peter and Paul.17 Their losses, and of other paintings of their brothers became Siena's leading painters. In 1337 Ambrogio
importance, are a reminder of the considerable lacunae in our painted storie romane on the exterior of the Palazzo Pubblico
knowledge of Sienese proto-Renaissance art. which no longer exist,19 and whose subject matter, unfortu-
These two elaborate Maestas painted but a few years nately, is not recorded. In 1338-1339 he produced the Peace
apart underscore the pre-eminent role of the cult of the Virginand War murals.20 However, his activity in the Palazzo Pubblico
in Siena. Evidently, her presence before the Sienese legisla-did not end there. By 1343 Siena's legislative council had
tive council: "in palatio comunis in Consilio", was then taken expanded in number beyond the capacity of the Sala del
for granted! The repeated production of these Maestas within Consiglio della Campana, and thus it moved to larger quarters
a few years would indicate that the location of the Sienese leg- in the south-eastern portion of the palace.21 As a consequence,
islative council changed. Significantly, in 1302 Duccio also Simone's Maesta and the triumphal paintings in the original
painted a Maesta altarpiece with predella, which is lost, for the legislative hall lost their intended civic functions. However, the
Chapel of the Nine.18 hall must have continued to serve in a significant governmental
It can be assumed that Simone's Siena Maesta followed role, since only two years after the departure of the legislative
established convention. Its basic composition: including the council Ambrogio was charged to paint his Mappamondo on
67
JOSEPH POLZER
o.f
(A. .r, ..
Scite5 mri
r r - - *
-'r. m," ~ ^ -,. f , ~,,'~
-o3J ^ ^4-~. . . .kt ...

;c 1Ycr Srora
ir " Pi~~~~~A
G . . '.
Ak9 ~: :.;
<i
.i
.\
6) A and B. Floor Plans and Cross Sections of the Lower Floors of the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, predating the Seicento
Restoration. Fotos Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Fondo Chigi VII 11 81.
the west wall beneath Simone's Guidoriccio mural [Fig. 3]. It and its contado in the adjacent Room of the Nine. Whoever in
was painted on a round wooden cloth covered platform which the government commissioned Ambrogio would have known
could be rotated.22 Deteriorating over the centuries, it was that world maps often decorated the ceremonial halls of rulers
finally removed in the early nineteenth century. The Mappa- and princes of the Church in medieval times.23
mondo covered the mural depicting the submission of a moun-
tain fort, at the time evidently no longer relevant, which has
only been rediscovered in 1979-1981. The wall's restoration The Original Architectural Setting of the Sala dei Nove
also revealed the circular grooves created by its repeated rota-
tion. Interestingly, the Mappamondo served the opposite side Ambrogio's mural decoration of the Sala dei Nove dates
of the same wall which supports the panoramic view of Siena about a quarter of a century after the southeastern and central
68
8) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, <<The Effects of Good Government

in the Countryside,,, as in Fig. 1. Foto Alinari.
7) Neroccio di Bartolomeo, <<Saint Bernardine Preaching in

side
the Campo,,, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Foto Soprintendenza of the room's northern wall. The same entrance would
B.A.S. - Siena. have been used by the Nine to reach their living quarters
ed in the upper stories.25
The relatively limited size of the Room of the Nine har
reflects the governmental power they wielded. It is small
pared to the adjacent council hall where Siena's legisla
portions of the Palazzo Pubblico had been completed around
body met and deliberated. The public character of the lat
1312. Built under their rule, its architectural form can be architecturally expressed by the open access to the ch
assumed to have reflected the Nine's governmental responsi- and the rooms serving the Concistoro located to the north
bilities and functions, keeping in mind that, separated from ambients beyond. Differently, the Room of the Nine is a c
their families, they stayed in the Palazzo during their brief two unit, its separateness clearly architecturally defined. Origi
months' tenure to assure their political impartiality.24 it was served by two entrances: a smaller doorway was lo
The Room of the Nine is located on the second story of ed toward the southern end of the east wall which separat
the palazzo to the south of the Campo, adjoining at the eastern from the council hall [Fig. 8], and another larger door was
side the Sala del Consiglio della Campana. The portion of theated at the western side of the north wall [Fig. 2]. Later d
palazzo extending to the southwest was partially rebuilt in the the Quattrocento three new doorways were introduced: o
seventeenth century when a broad stair was introduced offer- the eastern side of the north wall; another to left of cent
ing access to the chapel of the Concistoro. It replaced an open the east wall; and the third roughly corresponding to the
court. Originally stairs at the court's southern and eastern on the west wall, their introduction obliterating the adja
sides offered direct access to the Room of the Nine from the parts of Ambrogio's murals.26 Surely, the introduction of
Campo. The original disposition of this court and stairs three is later entrances coincided with the permanent closin
available on old plans predating the seventeenth-centurythe original doorways. Headed by a lateral cornice, their
reconstruction [Figs. 6a and 6b]. A painting of Saint Bernar- linear shapes place them clearly after the two original
dine preaching in the Campo by Neroccio di Bartolomeo [Fig. entrances which were arched at the top. Ambrogio's murals
7] depicts the lower stair seen from the Campo. It led to the took these arched entrances into account. Presently walled
main entrance of the Room of the Nine located at the western shut, their shapes are clearly legible. Significantly, the largest
69
JOSEPH POLZER
door, located on the western side of the north wall, offered mural was painted. In its full panoramic view and live detail the
access to the Campo and to the living quarters of the Nine entire mural has often been called the first realistic landscape
situated above! of modern times.29 Given the limited space, and the obvious
Here certain conclusions can be drawn: although located propagandistic purpose, one can hardly imagine, altogether,
next to the legislative hall, the position of the original doors a more effective pictorial solution!
shows that the Room of the Nine was conceived as an entityThe mural's spatial treatment was surely determined by
into itself. Its separateness would conform to the sequestered the assumed location of the Nine toward the center of the
living arrangement of the nine magistrates in the palazzo dur- room. As John White and others have stressed,30 the larg
ing their bimonthly tenure of office, and it would also express figures in the mural of Siena and the contado are the youn
in architectural form the separation of the Nine's supreme maiden dancing happily in the city's open foreground, wh
executive function from the legislative role of the Council theofother figures gradually diminish in size as they recede,
the Bell. The lesser northern side door did link these halls for only backward but also sideward. The Nine were the intend
access to the latter.27 viewers.
Since it contained the principal entrance, it would follow The realism of the city and the adjoining landscape does
that the Allegory of Good Government on the northern wall not wholly exclude the presence of allegory serving in a minor
was considered the most important mural in the room. It was key in the personification of the winged Securitas located
beside Siena's city gate. Duly identified by name, she
also well illuminated by the light entering through the fenestra-
tion located on the opposite southern wall. assumes the shape of a winged woman whose antiquising
nude body is partly covered by a wind blown veil. In one hand
Securitas holds a gallows bearing an executed malfactor,
Some Comments on the Disposition of Ambrogio's while the other holds a scroll whose text assures that here
War and Peace Mural Cycle in the Room of the Nineeveryone can go about his or her business without fear:31 s
is a speaking figure, lecturing the beholder. Larger than th
Consider how a member of the Nine would have experi- surrounding figures and assisted by the texts appearing
enced Ambrogio's murals as he entered their private councilher scroll and along the lower border, she serves to shift t
chamber through the principal door located at the western pleasant vision of prosperous Siena to the realm of thoug
side of the northern wall. He would first have seen before him,
concerning the purpose of benign civic government.
compressed on the eastern wall, his Siena and its contado Insofar as possible, the panorama on the eastern wall wa
extending all the way to the Tyrrhenian Sea [Figs. 1 and so 8]. disposed that it would correspond as best as possible
Taking account of the reductive process necessary for visually the actual layout of Siena if the wall supporting the mural w
dissolved. Accordingly, the bell tower and dome of the cath
projecting a larger geographic entity onto a wall of limited size,
the hill town was clearly identified as Siena by the bell towerdral in the upper left corner, that is, to the north side, wou
conform roughly to their actual location. And the city wall
and dome of the cathedral visible in the upper left corner. They
belonged to a large segment of the mural which was alreadythe right of the town, including the sharp descent into the v
repainted in the later Trecento,28 but which, it can beley and the rolling hills rising beyond, would correspon
assumed, followed Ambrogio's original design. The rolling roughly to the view of the contado beyond the southern w
dows. In short, the mural on the eastern wall represente
hills of Ambrogio's contado correspond effectively even now
to the general experience of the Sienese countryside. Siena viewed from the location of the Nine in the Palazzo
However, excluding all possibility of doubt regarding Siena's Pubblico.
intended identity, toward the right side appears the tiny port of Once in the center of their room the viewer had a choice:
Telamon, duly identified by its name which is still partly pre- he could turn westward, thus viewing the reign of tyranny, or he
served. The inscription is so small and the image of the port so may have turned around to look at the Allegory of Good
reduced that they were easily overlooked, as if Ambrogio had Government on the northern wall where he had entered [Fig.
deliberately planted here half-hidden proof that this landscape 2]. Assuming that he did the latter, he would have experienced
represented the state of Siena. Of course, with people going a wholly different, indeed, contrasting visual grammar, since
about their various tasks and enjoyments, the Nine thus wit- the Good Government mural consists principally of personifi-
nessed not only the territory for which they were responsible, cations of civic and moral concepts which are distributed
but also the desired prosperity of the Sienese people, a pros- across the available space. These are hierarchically and the-
perity which applied especially to the year 1338 when the matically carefully ordered and named. Connected to them
70
appear types of mortals who are smaller. Here the largest figu-
re is the elderly ruler who holds a mace-like scepter and shield
in his hands [Fig. 9]. This ruler figure represents Siena. The
black and white colours of his robe are those of the Balzana,
Siena's standard; and the she-wolf and her suckling twins
Remus and Romulus support his feet. They clearly refer to
Siena's assumed ancient Roman origin.32 And the image of the
Virgin and the Christ Child enthroned flanked by two angels
appears on his shield, including the inscription: "Salve[t]
V[ir]go Se[na]m [Veterem] [qu]am [signat amenam]," taken
from Siena's official seal.33 Moreover, the letters originally
located at the sides of his head: CS and CV, would stand for
Civitas Senensis (or Comune Senarum) and Civitas Virginis.34
The personification of Siena is flanked by six civic virtues
seated on one long bench. To the viewer's right of the
Commune, starting with the civic virtue closest to the latter,
appear Magnanimity, Temperance and Justice, while
Prudence, Fortitude and Peace appear to the left. And the
small winged theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity
hover about the Commune's head. This configuration occu-
pies the major portion of the northern wall.
In addition, the left side of the mural offers the impressive
image of Justice [Fig. 10]. According to her size and location,
here Justice is only second to the Commune in importance.
She forms the center of a larger unit. It includes Heavenly
Wisdom above, while at her sides appear her Aristotelian sub-
categories: Commutative and Distributive Justice. In addition,
Concord personified appears below, so placed that Concord,
Justice and Heavenly Wisdom are axially superposed.
As has been noted, here types of mortals are also depict-
ed. Twenty-four representatives of the popolo grasso: Siena's
prosperous citizenry from which the Nine were drawn, well
dressed and rowed in pairs, moves in dignified procession
from Concord toward the Commune, all holding onto a rope.
Initially the rope is divided, the two separate strands originat-
ing with the two winged figures, the executors serving the
commands of Commutative and Distributive Justice, who
kneel in Justice's two scales. In Concord's left hand the two
strands of rope are twisted into one which she extends in
9)turn
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2.
to Siena's leading citizens. The rope then guides the Detail:
latter<The Personification of Siena,>. Foto Lensini.
toward the old ruler personifying Siena who holds it wound
around the same left hand with which he grasps his mace-
scepter, and there it ends.
The civic virtues serving the Commune are so arranged
that Peace is located close to center directly above the pro- that the aim of good government is the preservation
Siena's,
cession of Siena's prosperous citizens. As explained byofthe
peace: the pax, or tranquillitas, civium!
mural's texts, her central location and exceptional appearanceThe types of mortals here present include representatives
(see below), underscores the universal civic idea, expressed
of Siena's armed force. Cavalry and infantry are set in front o
time and again in medieval civic thought and texts, including
all civic virtues flanking the personification of Siena, with th
71
JOSEPH POLZER
10) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: (<The Personification of Justice,. Foto Lensini.
armed force serves two ends. It testifies to the commune's

exception of Peace. These soldiers separate the civic virtues
petual state of armed vigilance needed for protection agai
from the mortals located before them in the lower right area,
these including two submissive knights, country folk who vo-
both foreign threat as well as internal disruptive violence.
luntarily submit to the power of the Commune, and also somein the case of Siena the presence of the army would also h
defeated rebels and criminals whose hands are bound behind referred to the city's ongoing contemporary military expan
directed mainly southward into the Maremma.
their backs [Fig. 11]. In essence, here the presence of Siena's
72
12) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 1. (<Bad Government,.

Detail: Tyranny and Her Vices. Foto Soprintendenza B. A
-Siena.
city and countryside with its people suffering the conseque

of Tyranny's drastic rule: fear, violence and destruction, occ
the central and southern portions of the west wall. And, co
sponding to the location of Securitas on the eastern wall, Ti
(Fear) now appears by the city gate in form of a winged dem
woman holding a scroll whose inscription attests to the pr
11) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: Right Side ofviolence and crime.
ence of
Mural. Foto Lensini.
In Ambrogio's mural cycle the different means informing
the beholder of the murals' content were most carefully
arranged. Obviously, the texts, these including both names of
personifications as well as elaborate explanatory poems,
served in conjunction with the imagery. Significantly, this
Finally, on the west wall the viewer saw the rule of Tyranny
imagery consisted of two contrasting kinds according to how
[Fig. 12]. In essence, compressed on one wall, here the subject
it was assimilated by the viewer these serving in calculated
matter corresponds in diametric moral contrast to that displayed
on the other two walls to north and east combined. At thecomplementary
right roles. One kind comprised the realistic por-
side of the wall Tyranny appears seated at the center of her trayal
court of Siena and its contado. From what is known of
medieval topographic representation, in its panoramic detail
of vices, her braided hair indicating that she is a woman. Fraud,
Ambrogio's view of Siena and its territory was without prece-
Treason and Cruelty are seated to her right, while Furor, Division
dent. Contemporaries accustomed to seeing more or less
and War appear to the left of her. In addition, the vices of Avarice,
Vainglory and Pride fly about her head. Here the entire group abbreviated
of and reduced land or city representations would
Tyranny and her vices is intended to correspond antitheticallyhave marveled
to at this elaborate and entertaining panoramic
vision. Essentially, here the visual grammar is descriptive. And
the personification of Siena and her civic and theological virtues
appearing on the north wall. Justice, bound and defeated, thelies
effect of its basic realism is heightened by the sheer con-
next to her broken balance on the ground below Tyranny. trast
Thewith the adjacent allegory on the north wall whose pur-
73
JOSEPH POLZER
pose was to make one think! Accordingly, Ambrogio placed faces of the two steps crossing the mural in the foreground.3
these contrasting visual grammars side by side. However, Christ's speech, which quotes scripture, written on
Of course, the kind of allegory here used, consisting of
his partially unravelled scroll, is in Latin.38 One is also remin
ed that roughly contemporaneously Dante's Divine Comed
personifications of moral and social concepts, has a long his-
tory.35 It must be remembered, however, for understanding and Boccaccio's Decameron were written in volgare. And
allegorical structure generally, and that of Ambrogio's murals
Taddeo di Bartolo's early fifteenth century mural cycle in t
in particular, that personifications of moral and social Anticoncistoro
con- of the Palazzo Pubblico, begun in 1413, th
cepts are human creations representing men's judgments inscriptions explaining the virtues of the ancient Roman
applied to their own actions and thoughts, thus regulating
Republican heroes are in Latin, although the principal text i
written
social life. Without mankind they would not exist. They lack the in Italian.39 Last but not least, the Nine saw to the pu
corporeal substance of things. However, they are hardly
lication of the state's constitution in 1309 in the common lan-
abstractions, in the sense that the actions which they judgeguage, the first among Italian communes.
are real, and that men have been known to give their lives forIt is evident from recent investigations of Ambrogio
concepts such as liberty, patriotism and peace, considering mural cycle that the many-layered meanings it conveys are n
easily
that one would hardly sacrifice one's life for an abstraction! In resolved in the detail. Here we will focus mainly on
short, Ambrogio's city and contado, vibrating with human aspects of the Good Government mural on the north wall, an
endeavor, are spectacles to be principally visually enjoyed,
especially the distinctive personifications of Justice and
while the Allegory of Good Government with its hierarchic Peace.
per- Obviously, their major roles refer to the universal
sonifications of moral and social concepts invites reflection
desired social conditions of the Italian commune guaranteein
regarding the desired structure of the ideal commune! Ofcitizen's good life. This is documented time and again by
the
course, here the introduction of types of mortals contributed
their inclusion in Siena's official documents and the parlance
to the latter and added a dimension of actuality. of the Sienese chronicles.40 Consider, for example, the extan
oath taken by the Nine when they assumed office:
The third element in the mural cycle's visual grammar con-
sists of the inscriptions which explain and reinforce the mean-
ings of the images. Significantly, only one text, Wisdom I, 1:"This is the oath that you, masters, lords, take the first da
"Diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis terram" ("Love justice you whoThat you enter your office and that you are held to observ
judge the earth"), quotes Scripture. It extends in a curve
across Justice's balance. Excluding the names of figures and First, that you exercise your office well and faithfully wit
Telamon, plus the texts located on the scrolls of Securitas andall solicitude and good diligence, and omit nothing tha
Timor, all others are located in the lower border. Ambrogio'spertains to the good state and honour of your commune
name and the completion date of the mural cycle's produc- and of the present regime.
tion: 1338, appear in large script below the Allegory of Good You must provide that the commune and people of th
Government. The verse from the Book of Wisdom, the names magnificent city of Siena are preserved in good peace an
concord.
of the painter and of all the personifications are given in Latin,
while the longer inscriptions in rhyme are in volgare, directedThat law (ragione) and justice be done and administere
at Siena's broader literate public. Collectively, the rhymes to the citizens subject to you and to those (persons) sub-
underscore the fundamental role of justice and peace for ject to you without discrimination by your rectors and off
assuring good and prosperous government, while, to the con-cials. And that the statutes of your commune and its ordi
trary, tyranny and all its drastic consequences are deplored.36 nances be observed for each person who demands it..."41
The combination of Latin and Italian inscriptions hardly
surprises, nor the use of volgare for longer explanatory texts,
considering that knowledge of Latin was yet restricted to
a learned few, and that Ambrogio's murals coincide with the Ambrogio's Contribution to the Mural Cycle
increased use of volgare in Italian literature altogether. It was
then customary for painters to sign their works in Latin, as did Normally we consider Ambrogio the author of the mura
Duccio on his Siena Cathedral altarpiece. Differently, the cycle
par- without duly separating its intellectual content from th
tially preserved text naming Simone Martini which appears visual form in which it is cast. Considering that these mura
below his Palazzo Pubblico Maesta is in Italian, as are the decorated the hall which served Siena's chief executive body
longer texts representing the Virgin's speech located on the and expressed its propagandistic view, it can be assumed tha
74
their content was most carefully controlled by appropriate

agents.42 There is evidence that Ambrogio was respected for
his wisdom in his lifetime. The minutes of a Sienese council
meeting of November 2, 1347, refer to his wise words: "sua
sapientia verba," which were presented in the vernacular.43 It
is a far leap, however, from wise public council presented in
volgare to the broad awareness of medieval political and
philosophical thought reflected in the murals' intellectual
structure.44 This required a substantial scholarly exposure
which a Trecento painter, however genial, learning his trade
from early youth in the accepted apprenticeship manner,
would hardly have possessed. Later Renaissance commenta-
I
tors: Lorenzo Ghiberti and Giorgio Vasari, both stressed
Ambrogio's intellectual gifts. Interestingly, their respective ref-
erences to the latter hardly mesh. In his Commentaries
Ghiberti considers Ambrogio's genius strictly within the con-
fines of his ability as a painter: "Costui (Ambrogio) fu perfec-
tissimo maestro, huomo di grande ingegno. Fu nobilissimo
disegnatore, fu molto perito nella teorica di detta arte" ("This
[Ambrogio] was a most perfect master, a man of great ability.
He was a most noble designer, he was highly skilled in the the-
ory of this art").45 Differently, in the 1550 edition of his Lives of
the Artists Giorgio Vasari places Ambrogio's knowledge of let-
ters above even his ability as a painter. He writes: "Fu grande-
mente stimato Ambrogio nella sua patria non tanto esser per-
sona nella pittura valente, quanto per avere dato opera agli
studi delle lettere umane nella sua giovanezza. Le quali gli
furono tanto ornamento nella vita, in compagnia della pittura,
che praticando sempre con lit(t)erati e studiosi, fu da quegli
con titolo d'ingegnoso ricevuto e del continuo ben visto, e fu
messo in opera dalla Republica ne'governi publici molte volte
e con buon grado e con buona venerazione". ("Ambrogio was
greatly esteemed in his fatherland not so much for his valour
as a painter, but because he studied human letters in his
youth. These were such an ornament in his life, together with
his painting, that working always with men of letters and schol-
ars, he was assigned by them the title of ingenious one, and
was always well received, and was many times given work by
the Republic in [the decoration of] public buildings with good
success and respect.")46 One has to be careful in evaluating
Vasari's account since it could well be coloured by his own
intellectual aspirations. Be this as it may, there can be little
doubt that the basic intellectual content of these murals was
devised by men of substantial learning serving the Nine. 13)Giot ,<Justice, ArenaChapel,Padu.Fot Musei
In the case of a later politically ambitious mural cycle still
Civc,Padova.
extant in the Anticoncistoro of the Palazzo Pubblico: Taddeo di
Bartolo's early Quattrocento murals of Aristotle and the exem-
plary heroes of the Roman Republic, which also includes civic
virtues, painted close to 1414, the names of the programmers
75
JOSEPH POLZER
14) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: <(Distributive

15) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: <<Commutative
Justice,,. Foto Lensini. Justice,. Foto Lensini.
who directed the painter are known. They were Pietro legislative council. There the texts in the mural offering
de'Pecci, doctor of law, and no less than Cristoforo d'Andrea, Christ Child's instruction to Siena's legislators, and indica
who was chancellor of the Signoria, and a friend of Leonardothe Virgin's protective civic role, were hardly supplied by
Bruni, chancellor of the Florentine Republic. Of course, painter himself. And Ambrogio would have been equal
Taddeo's murals, representing a later moment in the evolution instructed regarding the composition of his Mappamo
of the Renaissance, promoted the heroes of the Roman which he painted in the same hall in 1345 after the Coun
Republic as the models to be emulated by the free Italian com- the Bell had already departed for suitable larger quart
mune!47 located in the south-eastern portion of the Palazzo Pubbli
It stands to reason that the men who advised Ambrogio It should not be overlooked that the intellectual climate of
were of a similar scholarly calibre. One is tempted to assume Siena, which had its own studium, was augmented in the earl
that they were the two jurists: Nicolo di Angelo da Orvieto andTrecento by temporary migrations of a good portion of the fac
Benamato di Michele of Prato, who during the same years ulty and students of the university of Bologna. This occurred i
revised Siena's constitution.48 1338, and was preceded by another, of longer duration, whic
The same kind of advice and control would have applied began in 1321. They undoubtedly contributed to the intellectu
as well to Simone Martini's earlier Maesta in the Sala del al level of Siena's government. By the latter part of 1321-the
Consiglio della Campana, the large council hall adjoining
same yearthein which Simone Martini repainted his Maesta-n
less than twenty-two professors had relocated in Siena,
Room of the Nine to the east which at the time hosted Siena's
76
among them the noted jurist Cino da Pistoia who taught in wears a plain dress tied at the waist with a belt made of rope
Siena from 1321 to 1323, and again later from 1324 to 1326.49 as discarded weapons lie beside him, signifying that he has
What then is Ambrogio's personal contribution in these lost all wealth and power. The absolute contrast of their social
murals? Exceptional painter that he was, he gave genial visual conditions is obvious. The two men kneeling before the other
form to the intellectual content supplied by learned informants scale belonging to Commutative Justice look toward the
chosen by the government. And, of course, he would have winged figure dressed in white. In one hand the more distant
brought to the project his own range of knowledge regarding man holds a staff which is taller than he, and in the other he
the art he knew. receives a shorter staff-like object whose upper shape is par-
tially obliterated, this interfering with the object's identification.
The closer man, who appears in strict profile, receives an
Concerning Justice [Fig. 10] object which has eluded identification. It has the shape of
a rather low and broad cylinder, and it is held in the recipient's
There are two Justices in the Good Government mural, forward reaching arms so that the fingers of both his hands are
itself a problem requiring examination. Here we consider first cupped around the lower rear and front rims. Accordingly, this
the major Justice located at the left side of the mural close cylindrical object seems to lack a bottom. It has been consid-
above the main entrance to the Sala dei Nove. ered a strong box (forziere), presumably filled with money or
The balance is the preferred attribute of Justice through-
treasure, but this hardly makes sense according to the object's
out the Middle Ages, following Scripture (Wisdom 11, 20): shape and apparent lightness.50 Nor, according to its shape
"You have ordered all things with measure, number and and size, can it be a bale of wool, as has also been proposed.51
Stymied, some scholars have even concluded that here
weight." Significantly, here Ambrogio reverses the usual rela-
tionship of the figure to its attribute, since traditionally Justice
Ambrogio was simply confused,52 a proposition which seems
holds the balance, of normal size, in her hand, while now, fol- out of line since it transfers the scholar's ignorance to the artist.
lowing the example of Giotto's Justice in the Arena Chapel
Given the specific shape of the object, I find it difficult to accept
[Fig. 13], the large balance encompasses the whole figure.
that Ambrogio and his advisors did not know what they had in
Ambrogio's balance is suspended from Heavenly Wisdom's mind! Significantly, the cylindrical object's dark colour and
right hand. Actual contact of the balance with the figure ofsharply defined graven contour clearly indicate that it was origi-
Justice is kept to a minimum. Only the stem touches the crown
nally covered with bright metal leaf.53 The object has also been
on her head. And her thumbs: the only parts of her body com- identified recently as a bushel (staio),54 on the assumption that
ing into contact with the balance, rest on the sides of the two
it, as well as the long objects held by the second man, are
scales as if she were pressing them evenly downward. In axial
instruments of measurement used in commerce, this being the
alignment Justice looks upward for inspiration at Heavenly foundation of Siena's prosperity. This proposition would seem
Wisdom who in turn stares directly forward at the beholder, supported by Siena's constitution of 1309-1310 which states
thus claiming his attention. And below Concord turns her head
that the twelve bushels (staia) to be provided each January by
sideward toward the prosperous citizens of Siena. the camarlengo and the four proweditori of the commune for
The first verse from the Book of Wisdom, already quoted, use in the public market were to be made of iron.55 The longer
curves across the upper portion of the balance connecting the staff held by the rear person would then be the canna, a mea-
two scales. Each of these scales contains a winged figure, sure of length recorded in Tuscany as consisting of four or five
both kneeling and leaning toward two larger men who are situ- Florentine braccia, similar to the object in question consider-
ated on the ground directly before them. The dress and wings ably higher than a man is tall.56 The long staff was also covered
of the figure in Justice's right scale (our left) are coloured red,
with metal leaf, since its dark surface resembles that of the
while those of the respective figure in Justice's left scale arecylindrical object. This applies as well to the shorter staff with
white. These winged figures are identified by the texts appear- the worn upper section. Further complicating the identification
ing beside them as representing, respectively, "(lustitia) of the tall staff is the fact that it closely resembles the shape of
Distributiva" [Fig. 14] and "Comutativa" [Fig. 15]. The two men
the lances held by Ambrogio's original soldiers located in front
in front of the red winged figure representing Distributiveof Prudence at the right side (our left) of the Commune of Siena.
Justice both kneel before her with their heads bent forward, Whatever its intended identity, this cylindrical object is
for different reasons: luxuriously dressed and holding a palmhardly a bushel. Used for measuring grain and forage, it is
branch, the nearer man is crowned while the other, hands
simply too small to be of practical use. Contemporary repre-
bound behind the back, is about to be beheaded. The latter
sentations of bushels differ in size and shape. Consider the
77
JOSEPH POLZER
In LLhip-~wnLijc,~. ?'bU VT IIhOllltit Con
-t tv1 t 1o hcPI iU.1
i. 11 riD c iut-I i lflhaftubuniAc
F iwi in"? lUft h

I~ic,ltti
j ll tii-v Lun
tpintic nuiceuiofei -.in ilii:.
-D Cr 5.i0:tici
101 IiMnicwM
tLIViViiiiCii ci ncr c it -vitio bi t t nni-tlevni tinil,c ci
1i1iitn fin Ul cos In
A..
Iie~~~
rv- -1d i'LJ . 6 -

"'%7 ,j~C:
17) Nicole Oresme, French translation of Aristotle's

Nicomachaean Ethics. Detail: ccLegal Justice)). Bibliothbque
16) (4Portrait of Domenico Lenzi in his ShopCn, MS Tempi 3, Royale, Brussels, MS 9505/06, fol. 89. Foto Bibliothbque
Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence, fol. 2r. Foto Biblioteca Royale, Brussels.
Medicea Laurenziana, Firenze.
bushels represented in both: the illuminations of the Biadaiolo misura di capacita per aridi valeva in tutta /a Toscana I(itri)
Manuscript in the Biblioteca Laurenziana [Fig. 16], which is 24.36." Even if the size of Siena's late medieval bushel may
roughly contemporary with Ambrogio's murals, and on a relief have partially differed it would hardly have been so small. In
in Or San Michele, located inside above the north-eastern addition, this cylindrical object has no bottom plate, unless it
entrance. Both are considerably larger and include handles to was partly raised. Whatever the solution, it must take into
ease their transport.57 The Enciclopedia italiana states: "Stajo: account how this object would relate to the meaning assigned
78
19) Anonymous Painter, (<Queen Elizabeth I of England>,

Pinacoteca, Siena. Foto Soprintendenza B.A.S. - Siena.
by the advisor (or ad

serves.
The concepts of Distributive and Commutative

revert to Aristotle's Nicomachaean Ethics,58 and Thomas
rc. Aquinas, who adopted them, in his Summa Theologica.59
.._. ?
?:.??? These are the basic
? sources which
-. the programmer
.?' (or pro- ?
...I
r grammers) of Ambrogio's murals would have known. They are
-r
rarely represented in medieval art. They do appear, exception-

ally, below the image of Legal Justice in Nicole Oresme's
French version of Aristotle's Nicomachaean Ethics in the
18) Mantegna, <<The Vestal
Bibliotheque Royale in Virgin Tuccia
Brussels (MS 9505/06, fol. 89) w
London. Foto National Gallery,
dates after 1372 [Fig. 17].60 HereLondon.
all three are represented
79
JOSEPH POLZER
women. Distributive Justice dispenses money and other the sieve's use for proving the purity of the Vestal Virgin Tucc
goods to the figures standing beside her table as she looks
Accused of incest, to prove her innocence she successfully ca
upward at four white vertical bars of different lengths labeled
ried water in a sieve from the Tiber to the Temple of Vesta.
ii, iii, iv and v. These bars, whose different lengths and labels
Petrarch knew the legend, probably recalling its appearance
represent successive integers, illustrate in numerical terms,
Saint Augustine's City of God.65 She is so depicted in a pan
following Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, the principle of painting
pro- by Mantegna in the National Gallery of London [Fig. 18
portionate equality which regulates Distributive Justice's
And in a late portrait of Queen Elizabeth of England, the "Virgi
actions.61 Differently, Commutative Justice stands between Queen also holds a sieve. The painting somehow found its w
two litigants as she resolves some dispute. To the leftto side
the Pinacoteca Nazionale of Siena [Fig. 19].66
above her appears the scale of justice, and to the right a flailIn the painting of Tuccia by Mantegna the wide sieve con
and an opened stock: instruments of judicial punishment. sists of a rather low vertical rim attached to the bottom plate b
Although neither conforms to Ambrogio's versions, their means of rope, leather or wire winding through holes set in
respective spatial locations are identical. The preferred posi-
rim's lower portion. A similarly shaped sieve hangs fro
tion to the right of Ambrogio's Justice, mirroring that ofa the
wooden bar in the illumination in the Biadaiolo Codex depic
blessed who are placed to the right of Christ on Judgment
ing Domenico Lenzi, the Florentine cereal merchant, in h
shop [Fig.16]. The sieve also appears as a symbol of chast
Day, belongs to Distributive Justice for the following reason:
its province, the distribution of the whole to the part, that is,the distinction of good from evil in the encyclopaedic co
and
what greater society offers according to its laws and customs
lections of emblemata of the High Renaissance and beyond.6
to the individual, represents a higher order of exchanges However,
than all this taken into account, the resemblance of the
those occurring between individuals, this being the provincecylindrical object with the above sieves is not sufficient to w
of Commutative Justice. rant a firm identification.
According to Oresme's account which relies directly on Turning to Ambrogio's Distributive Justice, how is one to
Aristotle, would Ambrogio's configuration of Commutativeexplain the two figures appearing before her scale: the man
Justice concern judicial punishment? This is not born out by who is crowned and the other about to be beheaded? These
the appearance of the two men kneeling before the winged fi- figures have recently been interpreted as belonging to
gure, and by the objects in their hands. Their green and beigeCommutative Justice, in the belief that the identities of these
attire seems hardly distinctive. That of the standing man com- two Justices were erroneously reversed.68 As previously indi-
pares with the attire of the prosperous Sienese citizens hold- cated, this assumption of the painter's error must be dis-
ing onto the rope in the same mural. The kneeling man wears missed! Significantly, the absolute aspect of the contrast of
a belt at the waist used, similar to figures on the adjacent east-the defeated impoverished man, who is about to be decapitat-
ern wall, to raise his dress off the ground, either to keep it ed, with the other who is luxuriously dressed and crowned like
clean or to gain mobility when engaged in demanding labour. a king, is not compatible with the principle of proportionate
The presence of the canna, if properly identified, would meanequality expressed in Aristotle's, and Thomas', views. Neither
that these two men are involved in some commercial transac- does judicial punishment, should it apply to this act of decapi-
tion. Accordingly, instead of dealing with crime and punish- tation, correspond to Aristotle's concept of distributive justice
ment, the exchanges here represented would relate to since
com- it deals, differently, as its name indicates, with the "distri-
merce and the production of goods.62 bution of honour, wealth, and the other divisible assets of the
community, which may be allotted among its members in
Is it possible to identify the cylindrical object made of metal
which the winged figure gives to the man kneeling beforeequal her?or unequal shares."69 Both Aristotle and, following him,
According to its shape, size and lightness, and assuming a com-Thomas Aquinas, grant proportionate equality to both kinds of
Justice with the following difference: that in the case of distri-
mercial context, one might identify this object as a sieve.63 Some
presently used in industry in Italy, made of wood strengthened butive justice it is of a geometric order and in commutative jus-
with wire and/or metal stripping, with wire mesh raised sometice it is of an arithmetic order:
dis-
tance from the bottom (which I have actually used in sifting
sand) are virtually identical in shape and size. Then as now the "Equality is the general shaping form of justice, and here
sieve is a commonplace object used in the refining of matter, as both distributive and commutative justice agree, but in the
that of flour in the making of bread. Metaphorically its purifying first it is taken according to geometric proportionality,
while in the second according to arithmetical. In the give-
function still applies in common parlance, as in the sifting of evi-
dence in legal contexts. Ancient Roman lore records the story of and-take of action and passion among men the quality of
80
a person involved affects the quantity or size of the thingAccordingly, Christ entrusts his Virgin mother to Saint John;
done; striking a ruler offers greater injury than strikingthe Church to Saint Peter; Paradise to the good thief; his gar-
a private person. Yet with distributive justice what counts ments to the soldiers; and his soul to God the Father; etc.
is the quality or station of a person considered in itself, There also follows reference to Christ's thirst for Commutative
Justice, which is represented by his driving the merchants
whereas with commutative justice it lies in a diversification
arising from the objective condition of that which is and moneylenders from the temple and his reproach of the
owing."70 pharisees.73 In essence, Cavalca's text shows that, in the
hands of the less enlightened, or in treatises intended for
Compared to Ambrogio's image, the careful reading of popular consumption, lofty speculation easily lost its philo-
Thomas' account throws doubt on whether the programmer of sophical coherence.
the allegory really cared to strictly follow either his or In summary, the speaker of the verse from the Book of
Aristotle's views. In Ambrogio's Distributive Justice the two Wisdom curving over Ambrogio's Justice is God: He is the
figures being crowned and decapitated, representing supreme dispenser of distributive justice which crowns the
extremes of punishment and reward, summarize the supreme deserving ruler and exterminates tyranny.74 Consequently, if
power which justice ought to have. But, quite plainly, while the Distributive Justice can depart from Aristotle's and Saint
king, as supreme head, distributes the goods of the state, he Thomas' views, so can Commutative Justice. Accordingly,
cannot receive-that is, unless a higher distributing agent is interpreting the actions and objects of the latter as dealing
intended! There can only be one answer to this problem. with commercial exchange is, in principle, acceptable.
Since the king is the highest secular authority, a higher one The specific Divine Manifestation which Ambrogio's
can only be found in the spiritual realm, and this ultimate Justice serves can be identified: it is no less than the incarnate
authority is God! God-Child appearing in Simone Martini's Maesta located in
Although visually absent, God's active presence is the adjoining council hall [Fig. 20]. The latter was already long
ensconced in the very beginning verse from the Book of in place when Ambrogio painted his murals in the Room of the
Wisdom: "diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis terram" ("love justice Nine. Accordingly, the verse from the Book of Wisdom (I, 1):
you who judge the earth"), the very verse which connects "Diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis terram," which appears on the
these two subcategories of Justice as it curves symmetrically Christ Child's scroll, was deliberately repeated above
over and across her impressive scale. No wonder that the Ambrogio's Justice descended from Heaven. Whoever
inscription in the lower border refers to this Justice as "questa devised Ambrogio's allegory of justice tied it to Simone's
santa virtu"!71 The heavenly origin of this Justice is also visual- Maesta. There the incarnate God and his mother, the Queen of
ly declared by the fact that her balance is held from above byHeaven, descend to earth to guide Siena's highest legislative
Divine Wisdom, so identified by the cross which rises above body. By virtue of the repeated text, Christ's instruction to
her forehead. The intended presence of this Justice of Divine Siena's legislative council extends to the Council of the Nine.
origin demonstrates the extent to which religion then still do- All this also explains why neither God nor saints appear in
minated Sienese civic life!72 Ambrogio's mural cycle so that it seems essentially secular.
How is this kind of loose interpretation of Thomas' and Clearly, their presence was not needed, since they were
Aristotle's ideas to be understood? Perhaps some insight canalready present in Simone's Maesta. The mural decorations of
be gained from reference to contemporary popular religious the rooms serving Siena's principal legislative and executive
literature. In his Specchio di Croce the Pisan Dominican friar bodies were thus directly connected: Ambrogio's Allegory pre-
Domenico Cavalca applies metaphorically Aristotle's two se- sumes the existence of Simone's Maesta!75
cular justices to the Passion of Christ. Suspended on the
cross Christ dispenses tasks and gifts to the Virgin and the
Apostles in accordance, so Cavalca states, with the principle Concerning Peace and the Right Portion
of Distributive Justice. The setting is the moment of the of the Good Government Allegory
Crucifixion when Christ says, immediately prior to dying:
"Consumatum est" (John: 19, 30). Cavalca then proceeds According to her compositional and symbolic importance
with comparing Christ's work of human redemption, embod- the personification of Peace located close to the center of the
ied in his Sacrifice, with the "thirst and desire of Distributive Allegory should be considered next. As will be seen, she
Justice, searching in all things the honour of God and distrib- incorporated a number of diverse significant roles. Her excep-
uting the offices to the Apostles, to each as it behooves." tional antiquising and erotic appearance sets her apart from all
81
JOSEPH POLZER
Laying the ground work for properly understanding her

many-layered roles, I find it necessary to first proceed to the
examination of Ambrogio's mural's right side.
A large portion of the right side of the Good Government
mural was already repainted later in the Trecento. The repaint-
ed figures with their fuller faces clearly differ from Ambrogio's
which are more angular. On the whole, it has been assumed
that the repainted portion followed closely Ambrogio's original
design.76 This seems a reasonable assumption, but this need
not apply to all repainted figures and/or details.
Following the example of medieval ruler representations,
the old knight personifying the commune is assisted by civic
and theological virtues. The base below the Commune, which
is partially obliterated, separates the prosperous citizens of
Siena: the popolo grasso which supported the government of
the Nine, from the people of the contado submitting to Siena's
rule as well as Siena's defeated adversaries or apprehended
criminals [Fig. 2]. As has often been noted, the number of the
popolo grasso: twenty-four, recalls that of the twenty-four pri-
ors of Ghibelline Siena preceding the advent of the govern-
ment of the Nine. The rhythmic order of their progress, holding
onto the rope which leads them from Concord to the
Commune, together with their collective prosperous attire,
declares their shared interest in the Common Good. The con-
trast of their dignified appearance and behaviour with the
twelve men crowded in the lower right area could not be more
pronounced [Fig. 11]! Strangely, the latter are larger. They are
also more diversified according to age and attire. And different
from the controlled progress of the former, they move more
freely and openly express their emotions (with the exception
of the two knights who submit to Siena's power). On the
whole, they offer a more chaotic impression. These men rep-
20) Simone Martini, as in Fig. 4. Detail: <<The Christ Child,>.
resent different social categories. The four who are prominent-
Foto Soprintendenza B. A. S. - Siena.
ly located in the lower foreground are prisoners. They
approach the Commune with hands tied behind the back as
well as being tied to each other.
Whoever devised this mural cycle used rope metaphori-
other major personifications in the mural. In this context she in contrasting moral functions. On the one hand, the
cally
serves for herself. She also serves in relation to the proces-
benign citizens of Siena are led by Concord's rope toward the
sion of the prosperous Sienese citizenry appearing directlyCommune of their own free will, while here rope binds the pri-
below her. In addition, together with Justice and Concord,soners
she into submission. And rope returns another time on the
west wall binding Justice who lies defeated and helpless on
belongs to the primary group of civic virtues serving a pros-
perous and happy commune: equally confirmed by their the fre-ground below Tyranny [Fig. 21].77
quent collective appearance in Siena's official documents. Worried about their fate, the leading prisoner looks down-
ward away from the Commune, while the cape of the one
However, as we shall see, she is also antithetically connected
to the personification of Fortitude who appears besidebehind her. him covers his eyes. These prisoners also vary in
attire.
And, last but not least, she serves, together with the other sis- Three are well dressed. Their leader wears a cloak,
ter civic virtues appearing to her left, the Commune of Siena
tightly buttoned at the front, and a pointed cap which covers
located at their center. his ears. Judging by its dark lower band, the latter was origi-
82
gentleman wearing a garter over tight fitting hose who stands

before the Cathedral of Florence in the Via Veritatis,78 and
Longinas in the Crucifixion. And, unquestionably, Ambrogio
was already aware of this new fashion since it is adopted by
one of the prosperous Sienese citizens, evidently a traveling
merchant, proceeding toward the Commune.79 Whether these
prisoners imitated the attire of Ambrogio's original figures, or
were devised by the later Trecento restorer, plausibly Andrea
Vanni, is open to question. The new fashion also appears in
the riders accompanying the bride at the left side of the view of
Siena painted on the eastern wall which also belongs to the
later Trecento.
In back of these prisoners a group of eight men from the
contado moves purposefully toward the personification of
Siena who is offered two keys by their leader: a man wearing
a red cap. This action clearly represents an act of humble sub-
mission, based on the traditional theme of the victor receiving
the keys of a besieged city or fortress. It reaches far back into
the Middle Ages, appearing already in the Bayeux Tapestry
21) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 12. Detail: ((Justice
where Conan, duke of Brittany, extends two keys, hanging
Bound,,. Foto Soprintendenza B. A. S. - Siena.
from a banner, to William the Conqueror, signifying the capitu-
lation of Dinan. And it will return in the Baroque period in
Velasquez' painting of the Surrender of Breda where Justinus
of Nassau hands over the key of the fortress to the victorious
Marques Ambrosio de Spinola, etc.
nally covered with bright metal leaf. Differently, the last prison-
er is obviously destitute, perhaps a vagabond, since his head In addition, two knights in armour kneel deferentially
before the Commune beside the base supporting him. They
is uncovered and his clothes are tattered. The two other pris-
oners wear body-adhering long sleeved sweaters reaching
are local lords who voluntarily offer their territory, represented
from the neck to the buttocks. One of these sweaters is belted by the fort held before the torso by the rear knight, to a benign
and buttoned for the entire length below the neck, while the Siena. Fittingly, the personification of Magnanimity is located
other sweater, seen from the back, is slit open at the sides directly above.80
below the waist. They also wear what appear to be tight-fitting In essence, here the knights and the countrymen in front
of Siena's armed force are offered a simple choice: submit
minipants. From the little which remains of their upper legs it is
unclear whether they wore long stockings or were barelegged.
willingly to a powerful and benign commune, or suffer con-
According to their appearance these four prisoners hardlyquest. This subject matter: the presentation of the keys by the
constitute a social unit. The vagabond is surely a commoncontadini, and the submission of the two knights, surely refers
criminal while the other three, who are well dressed, would to Siena's contemporary policy of territorial expansion direct-
probably represent defeated magnate rebels. ed principally southward into the Maremma. For obvious rea-
In the course of the Trecento the Italian aristocracy, and, sons, the fact that this territorial expansion met with consider-
sparingly, leading merchants, adopted the innovate tight able resistance and extended over many years is here
body-fitting attire of the late medieval French and Spanish omitted. The offering of the keys to the Commune obviously
courts, including glamorous long pointed sleeves, casting also brings to mind the image of Saint Peter holding the keys
aside the traditional conservative medieval body-covering which open the Gate of Paradise, then commonplace in reli-
cloaks and dresses reaching to the ground. During the mid- to gious art and familiar to everyone.
later Trecento this new fashion is found sporadically in Italian One of the major factors in the many-layered meaning of
painting, and for this very reason it is an unsuitable exclusive Ambrogio's Allegory consists of the prominent presence of
criterion for the closer chronological definition of specific Siena's armed force. The latter is not engaged in any conflict,
works of art. It is found, for example, in Andrea da Firenze's but (duly taking account that much of it is repainted) consti-
murals in the Spanish Chapel in Florence: in the prominent tutes a screen which separates the personification of Siena
83
JOSEPH POLZER
men actively pursuing evil deeds in the city and contado of

and its civic virtues from the mortals appearing directly before
and below them. In the portion of the army which is originalTyranny, here the Sienese army, placed before the Commune
Ambrogio still endorsed the conservative medieval convention and the civic virtues (with the exception of Peace), assumes
of representing a multitude by a cluster of heads rising in back essentially a formal and protective stance. Nor is there any
of few bodies, in this instance replacing the rear heads with direct reference to powerful external hostile powers which
overlapping helmets. This ancient convention still appears would have justified its prominent presence. One is reminded
earlier in the Trecento in Giotto's mural of the Kiss of Judas in that when the Allegory was painted in the later thirties a period
the Arena Chapel, and long before, with heads replacing hel- of relative calm had settled over Tuscany for some years. The
mets, in the Early Christian mosaic of the Separation of most recent military upheavals of greater significance: the
Abraham and Lot in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Italian campaigns of the German emperors Henry VII earlier in
Rome, etc. the century and of Ludwig of Bavaria in the later twenties, were
Ambrogio's original infantry and cavalry are found in front by then distant memories. So were the defeat of the Tuscan
of Fortitude and Prudence, while to the right of Magnanimity, Guelphs, including substantial Sienese contingents, by the
reaching all the way to the right border, they were repainted great Ghibelline general Uguccione della Faggiuola at
later in the Trecento. Their armour varies in the detail. Different
Montecatini in 1316, followed by that of Castruccio Castracani
from Ambrogio's, the helmets of the repainted soldiers have at Altopascio in 1324, whose garrison the Sienese had suc-
visors and their crests are decorated. Some of the latter also
cessfully overcome in the siege of Montemassi in 1328. It can
wear brightly coloured cloaks over their armour absent among thus be assumed that the presence of the Sienese army in the
the former. Differently, Ambrogio's original infantry wears high mural, beside endorsing Siena's ongoing southward expan-
collared striped beige uniforms. Similar to some of Siena'ssion into the Maremma, would have referred primarily to pro-
prosperous citizens, Ambrogio's soldiers seem to converse tection against internal dissent which periodically disrupted
with each other, while those repainted later do not. The later sol- civic peace, this usually involving members of magnate fami-
diers and cavalry look in diverse directions, one cavalier glanc- lies.84 In essence, the prominence of the army clearly stated
ing upward at Civic Justice while his neighbor looks down at thethe obvious fact that the survival of the state depended on the
people below. Originally all the armour, now dark and in a dete-presence of sufficient defensive power, regardless of belief in
riorated state, was covered with bright metal leaf. Accordingly,divine intervention and protection.
the Sienese armed force thus attracted greater attention!81 It should not be overlooked that the affirmation in the
The lances of Ambrogio's original soldiers also differ in Allegory of Siena's defensive military corresponds substantial-
shape from the repainted ones. His lances, once covered with ly to a principal lesson of Marsilius of Padua's near contempo-
bright metal leaf, consist of long thin staffs which are not point-rary Defensor Pacis, considered by some commentators the
ed, while those of the restored soldiers are wooden and most significant political treatise of the later Middle Ages.85
topped with sharp triangular metal points. It stands to reason Marsilius' idea of societal peace and order is clearly based on
that the graven contours of those areas receiving metal leaf, the state's coercive power. He writes:
here involving the weapons and armour, even if the metal leaf
had worn off, remained visible at the time the soldiers were "The ruler must necessarily have a certain external organ,
repainted, thus serving as a guide for the early restorer. One is namely, a definite number of armed men, through whom
reminded that wooden spears topped with metal points serv- he can execute his civil sentences upon rebellious and
ing the Sienese army are already clearly depicted in Simone disobedient men by coercive force... for the laws and civil
Martini's nearby Guidoriccio mural.82 If the later military's judgments would be useless unless they can be carried
attire followed Ambrogio's original mural in the detail, it may into execution."86
have identified different armed civic bodies, which at the time
also included foreign condottieri with their bands, serving dif-
ferent civic jurisdictions and even magnate families.83
One wonders who assigned the Sienese army its substan- Peace and War: The Mural Cycle's Original Name
tial role in the mural. This military presence virtually seems
excessive. The considerable multiplication of soldiers and Presently it is customary to refer to Ambrogio's mural cycle
cavalry stands in sharp contrast to the raison d'etre of allegor- in the Room of the Nine as the Allegory of Good and Bad
ical personification where a single figure serves to express Government. However, this appellation is relatively recent.
a universal moral or social concept. Different from the armed Originally it was named "Peace and War:" It is so referred to by
84
a fourteenth century Sienese chronicler;87 in the fifteenth by9:50) and in the greeting used even today by both Arab and
Bernardine of Siena in one of his sermons and by LorenzoJew: "peace be with you." At Christ's birth the host of angels
Ghiberti in his Commentaries; and in the sixteenth by Vasari in greeted the shepherds chanting: "Glory to God in the highest;
his Lives of the Artists.88 That the name: "Peace and War" wasand on earth peace to men of good will" (Luke 2:14). Christian
intended from the beginning is indicated by the very inscriptiontheologians elaborated on its meaning, including Thomas
appearing in the lower border below Peace which refers directly Aquinas,93 and before him Saint Augustine, who wrote:
to the triumph of the common good over war.89 Here war stands
as well for Tyranny since it is the civic vice seated at the far right "Peace between man and his maker consists in ordered
beside her and her sister vices. Early in this century Alessandro obedience, guided by faith, under God's eternal law
Lisini still uses this title for the murals in his edition of Siena's peace between man and man consists in regulated fel
early constitution of 1308-1309 under the rule of the Nine.90 lowship (=Concord!). The peace of a home lies in the
Medieval political treatises repeatedly underscore that the ordered harmony of authority and obedience between t
primary object of benign government is to avoid war, that is, to members of a family living together. The peace of t
preserve peace.91 "War" presently refers to violent conflict political community is an ordered harmony of authorit
between sovereign states, as opposed to conflict confined with- and obedience between citizens. The peace of the hea
in them, referred to as "revolt" or "revolution." However, in enly City lies in a perfectly ordered and harmonious com
medieval Italy "guerra" ment violence in general, whether within munion of those who find their joy in God and in
or between autonomous states. The evidence abounds. another in God. Peace, in its first sense, is the calm th
Consider, for example, Dante's damned Guido da Montefeltro comes of order."94
who queries the poet concerning the political state of northern
Italy: "Dimmi se Romagnuoli han pace o guerra" ("tell me Withif the
the ascendant secularisation of late medieval socie
people of Romagna have peace or war;" Inferno XXVII, 28). Just placed peace on earth increasingly in a polit
commentators
as the term "guerra" (war) referred to social violencecal
in arena,
general,rather than a dominant theological realm. Dan
so the term "pace" (peace), or its equivalent "tranquillitas,"
both in the wasConvivio95 and his De Monarchia, rejected the
considered in equally broad terms. It represented the desired
of papal supremacy in earthly matters. At the beginning of
calm condition of the earthly state. This is abundantly evident
De Monarchia, written late in life, Dante begins with a paean
from the parlance of civic documents, including those of considered
peace, Siena. part of the Divine Order, and then proce
In his Sienese chronicle Agnolo di Tura records that toinadvocating
1335 the a unified world government headed by the H
Dominican friar Venturino, a "grande predicatore," preached "la
Roman Emperor, recalling the ancient pax romana.96 And
pace" in Bergamo, and made "molte paci" (= resolved many Pacis, the most challenging political treatise o
his Defensor
the late Middle
local conflicts) there as well as in Milan, before proceeding to Ages, completed in 1324, Marsilius of Pa
Tuscany and Rome.92 In essence, the appellation peace versus
wholly denied the Church, including the papacy, authority
war referred to the basic conflict of benign stable social
secularorder
matters. Indeed, endorsing the stance of the fratic
versus the destructive forces of chaos. he insisted that the Church should cleanse itself of all material
According to both: Scripture and ancient and medievalties and deal exclusively with matters of the spirit. As could be
political thought, peace represents the ideal state of man'sexpected, it incurred the wrath of Pope John XXII who con-
earthly existence. Consider Isaiah's Prophecy (9:6f): demned the book in 1326, Marsilius finding refuge at the court
of the German emperor Ludwig of Bavaria whom the pope had
"For a child is born for us; and a son is given to us; and previously excommunicated. As indicated by the very title of
the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall his treatise, Marsilius' peace is the practical goal of the secular
be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the
state:
Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His
empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of "This treatise will be called Defender of Peace, because it
peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his discusses and explains the principal causes whereby civil
kingdom: to establish it and strengthen it with judgment peace or tranquillity exists and is preserved, and whereby
and with justice." the opposed strife arises and is checked and destroyed.
For this treatise makes known the authority, the cause,
Obviously, earthly peace is a universally desired objective, and the concordance of divine and human law and of all
sealed in Christ's address to the apostles (John 20:19; Mark coercive governments, which are the standards of human
85
JOSEPH POLZER
,.a
. ..
*6 I *
;
ir -. @ ,r o 4.0*
. .
. -,
-"
F,F.;:
..
2-x - i
..9 Ie.\
. ;iK
: 5
!:.
..:,.,'i.:~
, - i 1
i
t,
f .,~.,~,, ?.
'' "''
-;?
22) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: <Justice and Fortitude,,. Foto Lensini.
86
23) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, <<Eve>, Montesiepi. Foto Lensini. 24) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 8. Detail: "Secu
Foto Soprintendenza B. A. S. - Siena.
acts, in whose proper unimpeded measure civil peace or procession of the citizens of Siena occurring directly below,
tranquillity consists."97 whose prosperity her presence guarantees.98 Her seductive
appearance metaphorically expresses the desirable social con-
cept she personifies. It corresponds generally to the appear-
ance of desirable women found in scenes of courtship appear-
Peace's Erotic Antiquising Aspect [Fig. 22] ing on roughly contemporary ivory reliefs and other objects
intended for cosmetic use and in the Manesse Minnesanger
Peace, half reclining on pillows, is singled out by her excep- Manuscript in Heidelberg. Interestingly, representing original
tional relaxed appearance which, by Trecento standards, could sin and carnal procreation, Ambrogio's attractive Eve, appear-
only be understood as sexually desirable. She wears a plain ing below the Madonna in a mural at Montesiepi [Fig. 23], is
white dress which clings to her shapely body so that the forms similarly depicted as a desirable half reclining woman. This Eve
of her breasts, nipples and belly are clearly indicated. She is the also holds a plant: the branch of a fig tree. Two other female fi-
only allegorical figure in the Allegory who is bare footed! In her gures in Ambrogio's mural cycle offer tight body adhering gar-
comfortable pose she differs categorically from all the other ments: the small winged Caritas located above the personifica-
civic virtues flanking the personification of Siena who are for- tion of the Commune, and the winged Securitas appearing next
mally seated, the upper body held erect, and who are also more to the city gate of Siena whose nude body is partially protected
expensively and intricately dressed. She holds a laurel branch by a windblown cloth [Fig. 24]. Obviously, in the case of Peace
in her right hand, and wears a laurel wreath which also sets sexual attractiveness makes a political statement!
Peace apart from her sister civic virtues, since the latter either The desirable female, ultimately guaranteeing the survival
wear crowns, or, in the case of Fortitude, a helmet which is of the human species, is a universal allegorical device. It
ringed by a crown-like radiance. At the left side the personifica- appears in Scripture, in the erotic language of the Canticle of
tions of Wisdom and Justice are also crowned, while Concord's Canticles, where it is interpreted to symbolise the wedding of
hair is held in place by a decorated band. In her relaxed posi- the Church and Christ.99 It abounds in the art of classical
tion, with the head resting on her bent right arm suggestive of antiquity, in the many personifications of victory lending their
pleasant contemplation, Peace seems oblivious even to the feminine appeal to the coronation of the triumphator.
87
JOSEPH POLZER
Understandably, it pervades the rhetoric of Renaissance

pensive and relaxed half-reclining pose, and her plant attribu
es, Ambrogio's Peace also recalls the personification of
humanism.100 It serves universally in art and poetry, and today
the desirable female dominates public advertising to excess!
Arcadia in the mural of Hercules finding his son Telephus fro
Herculaneum in the archaeological museum of Naples.
It stands to reason that Ambrogio's Peace, with her body
adhering and revealing dress, her bare feet and laurel wreath, Of course, the concept of Peace conquering War also
was inspired by ancient art, although a specific source is belongs
not within the traditional Christian moral struggle of go
versus
available. However, in the case of the Securitas located next to evil. It occurs in schematic arrangements of speci
virtues and vices locked in armed conflict. For example,
Siena's city gate Ambrogio probably drew on an ancient frag-
Prudentius' Psychomachy Peace "drives away war."1
mentary relief of a flying Victory which is still in Siena.101
According to the early sources Ambrogio was familiar Significantly,
with in the mural of Tyranny on the west wall of t
Room of the Nine the personification of war is situated farth
ancient erotic statuary. Ghiberti relates in his Commentaries
to the right among the civic vices [Fig. 26]. In this location w
that he had seen a drawing by Ambrogio of an ancient statue
of a Venus Anadyomene discovered in Siena in the early is closest to Peace among the civic virtues flanking the per-
Trecento. Greatly admired, it was displayed on the Fontesonification
Gaia of the Commune!
in the Campo. However, after suffering a military defeat at theAmbrogio's concept of peace conquering war, plausibly
hands of Florence in 1357, attributing this misfortune toreverting
the to his Allegory of Good Government, lasted well
wrath of God brought about by the ancient statue's publicbeyond
dis- the Renaissance. A mural of circa 1578 in the Sala
play and adulation, the Sienese broke it into pieces and della Giunta in the Palazzo Pubblico, attributed to Arcangelo
secretly buried it in Florentine soil. This turn of events Salimbeni,
docu- offers Justice and Peace who stand beneath
a prominent inscription which reads: "lunguntur per unum
ments an exceptional example of a late medieval Tuscan com-
mune's ambivalent response to the ancient nude.102 iustitia et pax" [Fig. 27]. Here Peace holds a torch igniting the
instruments of war on which she stands. And Jacopo
Sansovino's bronze Peace in the Loggetta of Piazza San
Peace Vanquishes War Marco in Venice is similarly presented.108
Last but not least, the cushion supporting Peace rests on

a mound of armour, and her feet rest directly on shields.Peace
The and Fortitude [Fig. 22]
meaning is clear: peace vanquishes war! Originally, when all
In Ambrogio's Allegory the relationship of Peace and
the armour, bright and shining, was yet covered with precious
Fortitude requires clarification. First and foremost, Peace does
metal leaf,'03 this meaning would have struck the beholder
not have a monopoly on the central area of the mural. Careful
with full visual impact! Following Quentin Skinner, Ambrogio's
calculation shows that the vertical axis, given her sideward
desirable Peace triumphant over war conforms to an essential-
extended position crossing her lower left foot, falls directly
ly Roman belief adopted by the pre-humanist medieval treatis-
es. Accordingly, "peace should be viewed not as a mere between her and Fortitude who is seated by her side [Fig. 28].
absence of discord, as Aquinas was to define it, but ratherIt follows
as that among her many meanings, Peace is also con-
nected
a state of triumph, a victory over the forces of discord and war to Fortitude. Here the message, in part already noted,
that constantly threaten to destroy our common life."'04 is obvious. Their combined central location endorsed political
reality: namely, communal peace had to be protected by force!
Interestingly, an analogous situation is found in certain themes
in classical art where the power of love, represented by the Ambrogio's Peace and Fortitude differ categorically in
their appearances and in their compositional roles. Presently,
desirable woman, triumphs over sheer strength and war, these
including Omphale who imposes her will on Hercules,Fortitude's
and armour is dark. However, like the armour on which
Venus who conquers Mars. A monumental statue of Omphale Peace is seated, it was originally covered with brilliant metal
leaf.109 Judging by Prudence, seated to her left (our right) who
holding Hercules' club and lion skin is found in the archaeo-
logical museum of Naples,105 and in a Pompeian mural Venusis original, and keeping in mind that beside these three the
other sister virtues flanking the Commune are repainted, none
holds her lover's lance while her erotes play with his sword
of them
and armour [Fig. 25].106 A closely related example is found in wore such brilliant attire! Indeed, the small specks of
yellow visible on her armour and dress may indicate the origi-
Botticelli's later painting of Mars and Venus in the Uffizi Gallery
nal presence of gold.110 Fortitude's appearance was further
where, in the presence of the goddess of love, child satyrs
make off with the sleeping god's armour and weapons. Inemphasised
her by the two cavaliers appearing directly below her
88
26) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 12. Detail: <<War,>. Foto

Soprintendenza B. A. S. - Siena.
completed in 1324, and it was condemned by Pope John XXI

25) Mural of <<Mars and Venus) from Pompei. Museo two years after in 1326. Its sharp endorsement of the state's
Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Foto Anderson. cular power and of corporate republicanism must have be
devoured by the chanceries of the Italian communes! Consid
also the coincidental presence during the early to mid-twenti
in Siena of jurists from the University of Bologna - th
renowned Jurist Cino da Pistoia taught there as late as 1326
whose armour was also covered with bright metal leaf. She is and again in 1338. Considering both the notoriety and the logi
thus directly connected to the Sienese army! coherence of Marsilius' text, it is hardly possible that the juri
Much here conforms to the lessons of Marsilius' Defensor responsible for the revision of Siena's constitution in the yea
pacis. Both he and Ambrogio's Allegory would agree that 1338-1340, precisely the time when Ambrogio painted t
communal peace depends on the state's power to control the
murals in the Room of the Nine, would not have been aware of i
disruptive aspects of human behaviour, meaning that men All this being said, here the influence of Marsilius' text,
have to be coerced into living together in harmony by force.111
assuming this were so, would only apply in part. As has bee
Marsilius' assessment of man's natural divisive nature is real-
seen, by virtue of the inscription connected to the impressi
istic and his notion of peace applies to the internal political
Justice at the left side, reference is made to the Christ Child
Simone Martini's Maesta located in the adjoining Sala de
structure of the particular state. Following medieval and classi-
cal political thought, Marsilius' idea of the unified will of the
Consiglio. Here God is clearly the direct source of earthly justi
universitas civium conforms to the civic virtue of concord. in accordance with the words recorded on the Christ Child's
Altogether, his view of secular corporate republicanism
scroll: "Love justice you who judge the earth!" Obviously, her
reflects the governance of the Italian commune, and corre-
the power of the church attending to earthly justice was not onl
sponds to the basic allegorical meaning of Ambrogio's mural.
accepted, but it was underscored! Accordingly, in the Room
The possibility that Marsilius' text influenced Ambrogio's
the Nine the keys of Saint Peter appear in the central crest locat
murals cannot be easely dismissed. The Defensor pacis ed wason the upper border of the west wall.
89
JOSEPH POLZER
Concerning the Composition and Correllation

of Ambrogio's Virtues and Vices
In surveying the composition of Ambrogio's virtues and

vices in the Room of the Nine one observes a number of
diverse arrangements regarding their relationship. On one
plane, distributed on the three walls, virtues and vices are
presented in form of contradistinctive pairs. In addition, how-
ever, a number of virtues exist by themselves without corre-
sponding vices. These virtues are precisely those: Concord,
and the principal Justice at the Good Government Allegory's
left side, including also the smaller Wisdom above her, who
are the obvious guarantors of civic harmony and peace. They
appear time and again in the official rhetoric of the state of
Siena: in its documents, including the oath of office of the
Nine previously quoted.112 Corresponding theological views
can be found as well in the writings of Saint Augustine and
Thomas Aquinas, etc.113
In addition, as has been considered, here the centrally
located Peace, one of the civic virtues flanking the personifica-
tion of Siena, represents a special case in consideration of her
many intended meanings. These include her connection to
Concord and Justice, the prosperous Sienese citizens moving
toward the Commune below her, and to Fortitude. Finally, the
exceptional appearance of two Justices at opposite sides of
the Good Government Allegory also requires explanation,
since in the traditional medieval schematic distribution and
confrontation of virtues and vices one personification of a spe-
cific virtue would seem to suffice.
The moral structure of the medieval Christian universe was
usually represented by the schematic coupling of specific
virtues with corresponding vices.114 A well known late medieval27) Arcangelo Salimbeni (attrib.), <<Justice and Peace,,, Sala
example of the kind, with which Ambrogio was surely familiar, is della Giunta, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Foto Lensini.
found in Giotto's early Trecento mural decoration of the Arena
Chapel in Padua where the theological and cardinal virtues, imi-
tating sculpture, face their respective vices along the lowest
registers of the opposite nave walls. There Prudence is paired
with Folly; Strength with Inconstancy; Temperance withsonified commune of Siena [Fig. 2] with the vices flanking
Violence; at the center Justice [Fig. 13] with Injustice [Fig. 29]; Tyranny [Fig. 12], assuming that they would have faced each
Faith with Infidelity; Charity with Envy; and Hope with Despair.other directly like Giotto's at Padua. Here War would corre-
Taking inventory of other principal medieval cycles of virtuesspond to Peace; Strength would be paired with Division;
and vices one finds that the particular pairings often do vary. Prudence with Fury; Magnanimity with Fraud; Temperance
Significantly, Ambrogio's pairings of individual virtues withwith Prodigiousness; and Justice with Cruelty. In addition,
vices seem inconsistent since some are persuasive while oth-among the theological virtues Faith would then correspond to
ers are not. For example, the correllation of Securitas [Fig. 24]Vainglory; Hope to Avarice; and Charity to Pride.
with Timor [Fig. 30]: Security and Fear, located respectively Perusing these pairings, it is evident that only certain of
above the city gates of Good Government and Tyranny, makesthem make good sense and follow tradition, while others sim-
good sense. The matter is more complicated, however, whenply do neither. Obviously, in line with the mural's texts, the pair-
one considers the pairings of the civic virtues flanking the per-ing of War with Peace clearly fits. On the other hand, among
90
t - .. 1. Pr I-l
28) Vertical Axis of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's <<Good Government>> Mural, using Foto Soprintendenza B. A. S. - Sien
the theological virtues to pair Hope with Avarice makes no the former. Justice and Tyranny are joined in an illumi-
below
nated page of the Neapolitan Bible preserved at Louvain
sense at all. Hope connects rather with Despair, as in Giotto's
which is roughly contemporary with Ambrogio's mural cycle.
Arena mural cycle. Nor should Pride be paired with Charity,
There King Robert of Naples is enthroned beneath a bal-
since its obvious opposite is Humility.115 And, conversely,
dacchino which is supported by eight virtues who stand on
Charity goes better with Envy, again as in Giotto's Paduan
defeated vices, one of these being Justice who stands on
cycle. Moreover, again referring to Giotto's example, why
Tyranny [Fig. 31]. Like Ambrogio's version, as well as Giotto's
should here Infidelity connect with Vainglory instead of Faith?
Further, to link Temperance to Prodigiousness seems accept- Injustice in the Arena Chapel, this Tyranny also has horns,
able, but to connect Justice with Cruelty makes no sense atremindful
all, of Lucifer. As can be expected, the connection of
Justice
since Justice often has to be cruel if punishment were to fit the with Tyranny is of long standing. It is already found in
the dedication miniature of the gospel book of Emperor
respective crime, and was so especially in the Middle Ages!
Altogether, for whatever reason, here the coherent correlation Henry II in the Vatican Library, where a tyrant is about to be
of particular virtue and vice was only selectively applied.116 executed below the imperator iustitiae [Fig. 32]. In summary,
Of course, in the Sala dei Nove the primary moral con- here Ambrogio's advisors dealt rather freely and selectively
frontation involves the benign personification of Siena with the persuasive pairings of virtue and vice.
opposed to Tyranny. This very arrangement is clearly idiosyn-
cratic since tyranny: here considered a fundamental civic evil,
here corresponds, instead of a general social virtue, to the Ambrogio's Two Justices
allegorical representation of a specific historical commune. A
more obvious candidate for pairing with Tyranny is Justice. As has been stated, the appearance of two Justices in
This combination is here also found, although presented in Ambrogio's Good Government Allegory requires explanation,
a minor key, in the small Justice lying bound on the ground since one personification of justice would seem to suffice.
91
JOSEPH POLZER
30) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 12. Detail: <Timor>,. Foto

Soprintendenza B. A. S. - Siena.
Allegory she follows the Commune in importance. Here her

attribute, following tradition, is the balance. As has been indi-
cated, she is connected to Wisdom descended from Heaven,
ultimately her source being the Christ Child in Simone
Martini's Maesta located in the adjoining hall of the Council of
the Bell. That her balance could also serve as a divine attribute
is demonstrated by Giovanni Pisano's Christ Saviour set
against a pier which supports his Pisa Cathedral pulpit [Fig.
33]. There a balance is applied in relief on his body below
a scroll which bears the following text from the Book of Psalms
(84, 12): "Veritas de terra orta est et lustitia de Coelo prospex-
29) Giotto, (lnjustice),, Arena Chapel, Padua. Foto Musei
Civici, Padova. it" ("Truth is sprung from the earth: and Justice hath looked
down from Heaven"). To offer another example, on a Last
Judgment appearing on a Mosan enamel reliquary of around
1160 Divine Justice, holding a large balance, replaces the
Archangel Michael in his typical role serving as the execution-
I can think of no other medieval work of art or text which con- er of God's final judgment of man.117
tains two justices, excluding, of course, instances involving its Differently, in the Allegory of Good Government the second
separation into subcategories, such as commutative and dis-Justice [Fig. 34], belonging to the group of civic virtues who
tributive justice, etc. Here its double appearance was required serve the Commune, is placed as far as possible from the for-
by significant differences in assigned meanings, evident in the mer at the opposite right side of the mural. Dismissing the ba-
two Justices' diverse masters, locations and attributes. lance, she holds instead in her right hand an upright sword
The Justice at the left side is the principal figure in her above the head of a decapitated man resting on her knee,
domain. As has been considered, in the Good Government while in her left hand she holds a crown. Interestingly, these
92
32) (Emperor Henry II represented as Rex lustitiae,, Gospe

Book of Emperor Henry II, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,
MS Ottob. Lat. 74 193v. Foto Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
31) (King Robert the Wise of Naples Enthroned, Flanked by

Virtues,,. Frontispiece, the Anjou Bible, University of since it was not in its mandate to create kings-although the
Louvain, Theology Library, MS 1 fol. 3. Foto Theology destruction of tyrants would have fallen plausibly within its
Library, Louvain. jurisdiction. It stands to reason that these attributes, eve
though their suitability can be partially questioned, were select
ed to represent the Commune's supreme power within its
dominion. To my knowledge, Justice's attributes of the severe
head and proffered crown are not found beyond Ambrogio's
attributes, representative of decapitation and coronation, ob- mural and its close sphere of influence in Siena.118
viously referring to extremes of punishment and reward, cor- Where could these attributes have originated? The crown in
respond directly to those forming part of the image ofCivic Justice's hand brings to mind Simone Martini's Neapolita
Saint Louis altarpiece painted some years before around 1317.
Distributive Justice located at the right side (our left) belonging
to the other primary Justice descended from Heaven [Fig. There 14]. the deceased saint, who had refused his royal inheritance
In principle this symbolism hardly belongs to the commune, in favour of entering the Franciscan Order, offers an earthly
93
JOSEPH POLZER
'._ -..-_ .~_. .........-
34) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: c(Civic Justice

33) Giovanni Pisano, c(Christ Judge>,, Pulpit, Pisa Cathedral.
Foto Grassi. Foto Lensini.
94
crown to his younger brother Robert, king of Naples, while If not before, some time during the Dugento the represen-
receiving in exchange the Heavenly Crown of Eternal Bliss.119 tation of Justice acquired the sword. Justice holds both: a ba-
More distantly, one is reminded of Byzantine ivories where lance and a prominent sword, on the sarcophagus of Pope
Christ places crowns directly on the heads of emperor and Clement II in the Cathedral of Bamberg where he had been
empress, thus delegating to them some of his Divine authori- bishop prior to his election to the papacy in 1046.125 However,
ty.120 Of course, in Early Christian and Byzantine art Christ fre- the sarcophagus was made later around 1235. Since Clement
quently presents the Crown of Eternal Salvation to martyr saints, was a creation of Emperor Henry III, intended to replace three
or, conversely, the saints may offer their crowns of martyrdom to rival popes: Silvester III, Benedict IX and Gregory VI whom the
him.121 In the Second Epistle to Timothy (6:8), Saint Paul refers emperor had deposed, it stands to reason that this sword of
to the crown of justice which God renders to the martyr: "...there justice refers to the power of the imperial party. After the sec-
is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge ond half of the Dugento the sword of Justice is often found,
will render to me at that day... Make haste to come speedily to especially in the ambient of the great Pisan sculptors of the
me." All these crowns serve different meanings, none of which thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. On Nicola Pisano's pulpit
connects with the medieval Italian commune. Ultimately, the suit- in the Baptistry of Pisa a winged figure seated beside the relief
ability of the crown considered an attribute of civic Justice, as in of the Last Judgment holds what was probably a raised sword
Ambrogio's Allegory, seems hardly to make good sense. of which now only the grip remains, and a book with
Following the example of Ambrogio's Secular Justice, the a Crucifixion on the cover. The figure has been identified as
balance, the cardinal virtue's traditional medieval attribute, Divine Justice, with reference to the Archangel Michael who
could be dismissed. This also happens in Taddeo di Bartolo's separates the saved from the damned souls.126 Giovanni
later mural cycle in the Anticoncistoro of Siena's Palazzo Pisano's Justice holding both a sword and balance appears
Pubblico, where Justice holds in one hand a raised sword on the Pisa Cathedral pulpit completed in 1311,127 the same
above a large disc offering the earth circled by the ocean,pulpit which offers the Christ with the balance applied on his
while five books, resting in her lap, refer to her wisdom.122 Asbody. There the sword rests on the ground. However, hence-
has been indicated, the subject matter of Taddeo's mural cycleforth the sword of Justice will usually point upward, as on
is secular. His civic virtues: Justice, Religion, Magnanimity, Giovanni's statue from the dismembered funerary monument
Prudence and Fortitude, appear above the exemplary heroes of Margaret of Brabant in the Palazzo Spinola in Genoa, dating
of the roman republic and Aristotle. Beside the many Latin after 1313.128
texts extolling the virtues of these heroes a prominent inscrip- As time proceeds it seem that the preferred attributes of
tion in volgare, intended for the general Sienese public, sum-the personification of justice refer to her power. The sword of
marised the meaning of Taddeo's mural cycle: Justice thus appears widely in the oeuvre of Giovanni Pisano's
followers, as well as on Andrea Pisano's bronze door in the
"Specchiatevi in costoro voi che reggete. Se volete reg-Baptistry of Florence. And in the later Quattrocento Pietro
nare mille et mille anni seguite il ben comune e non v'in- Pollaiuolo's Justice in the Uffizi Gallery holds sword and
ganni" ("you who rule imitate those [exemplary Romansphere, another symbol of terrestrial domination, traditionally
Republican heroes here present]. If you wish to rule thou-belonging to the emperor.129 Interestingly, these attributes can
sand and thousand years follow the common good and do be compared with Sano di Pietro's personification of good
not go astray."123 government on the gabella cover of 1473, assuming the shape
of an old crowned king who also holds a sword and sphere,
Obviously, the exercise of justice presumes the power of above whom appears the inscription "LIBERTAS."130
enforcement (as clearly stated by Marsilius of Padua in his Justice also appears, holding a raised sword in one hand
Defensor pacis),124 and the basic symbol representing this and a balance in the other, in the central tondo of the vault in
power, whether divine or mortal, is the sword. It thus appearsthe Sala del Concistoro painted by Beccafumi in 1528-1535,
in scripture (Romans 13, 4): "Dei enim minister est tibi intoward the end of Siena's republic [Fig. 35]. She rests her left
bonum. Si autem malum feceris, time; non enim sine causafoot on an opened scroll supported by a flying putto on which
gladium portat: Dei enim minister est, vindex in iram ei, qui is written: "per me reges regnant" ("Because of me kings
malum agit" ("For he is your minister of God for good. But if reign"), quoting Proverbs 8, 15. Here Justice is flanked by two
you shall do evil, fear; for he bears not the sword in vain: For prominent octagons containing the allegories of Mutua
he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon Benevolentia (Mutual Goodwill = Concord) and Patrie Amor
him who does evil"). (Love of the Fatherland).131 The rest of the vault is devoted to
95
JOSEPH POLZER
35) Beccafumi, <Justice>,, Sala del Concistoro, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Foto Soprintendenza B. A. S. -
and Peace murals in Siena, in a relief representing Ven

examples of patriotic heroism drawn from the lore of ancient
Greece and Rome. attributed to Filippo Calendario, located on the west faga
The equation of Justice with civic government played the Palazzo Ducale. Venice, seated on a lion's throne, holds an
a sig-
nificant role as well in the art and thought of Renaissance erect sword in her right hand. Although here her balance is not
Venice. This tradition, which reached well into the Cinquecento,
represented, as it will be later, justice is referred to in the accom-
can be traced back to around the middle of the Trecento. It panying text: "Forte iustis trono furias mare sub pede pono."
appears, not long after Ambrogio Lorenzetti's painted his TheWar
furies are Ira (Wrath) and Superbia (Pride) who appear at
96
36) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: (<The She-Wolf

Suckling the Roman Twins,. Foto Lensini.
her feet among the waves of the sea.132 Crowned Justice seat-
ed on a lion's throne, holding both balance and the raised
sword, appears on one side of an octagonal capital bearing her
name located at the northwestern corner of the Ducal Palace,
dating from around the fourteen-twenties.133 The impressive ":4 **** I. ; ** **. * ;':.'.-' ".:
Justice surmounting the Porta della Carta, sculpted by Giovanni <
^....
<0
.... . .. .R.
or Bartolommeo Bon around 1441, is also seated on a lion's
throne and offers the same attributes.134 The fusion of Justice
with Venice seems to cease as one proceeds into the later
Cinquecento. For example, in Veronese's painting of Venice
3
Enthroned in the assembly hall of the Palazzo Ducale Justice
Sansaini.
assumes a subordinate position to the personification of
Venice. Although the sword is a standard symbol of royal and
imperial power, the principal imperial attributes throughout the
Middle Ages and after are the sphere and the scepter, reaching
from the portrait of Charles the Bald in the Vivian Bible to Justices are hardly equals. Justice descended from Heaven
Francois Gerard's portrait of the Emperor Napoleon. All this obviously of a higher order. She is the "santa virtu" w
being said, within the iconography of medieval justice benign presence is praised in the text appearing nearby in
Ambrogio's Civic Justice retains an isolated place. lower border. Her place above the principal original entra
The previous discourse is intended to clarify the position to the Room of the Nine is well chosen for she was the last
of Ambrogio's murals in the Room of the Nine in the transition- figure one would have seen leaving the room in Ambro
al phase when the state's devotion to God and the Madonna time. Whether intended or not, her location brings to mind
yielded greater ground to a secular view. Ambrogio's two of Saint Michael appearing with his balance at the center o
97
JOSEPH POLZER
Interestingly, the specific source used by Ambrogio for one of

Last Judgment as he separates the damned from the blessed
souls. Thus he appears on the inside fagade wall of the
the twins can be identified. Consider the curious position of the
Cathedral of Torcello directly above the main entrance. twin who suckles on the she-wolf's teat while holding onto his
Ambrogio's second and lesser Justice serving the Com-
large toe with his right hand so that his genitals are clearly visi-
mune is strictly secular. By introducing the two Justices the ble below his raised leg. This pose is based on the Spinario: the
pro-
grammer (or programmers) of Ambrogio's mural cycle strived bronze statue of a young boy removing a thorn from the
ancient
to separate Heaven's role in civic good government, whichsole
is of his left foot which rests on his knee [Fig. 37]. It is now in
still clearly acknowledged, from that belonging to man. the Museo dei Conservatori, but during the Middle Ages it stood
on a high base in front of the Lateran Palace in Rome. There his
genitals were seen from below, and, consequently, he was con-
Appendix: sidered to represent Priapus, the ancient god of fertility.135
The Ancient Source for One of the Roman Twins Interestingly, at the time the bronze she-wolf also stood nearby
before the Lateran where it served as a fountain.136 The present
As has been stated, the lupa with the suckling twins [Fig.suckling twins were only added in the later fifteenth century, it is
36], serving as footrest for the knight who personifies Siena,thought by Antonio del Pollaiuolo, when the Lupa was moved to
indicates the city's ancient Roman origin. Of course, the groupthe Capitoline hill. The pose of Ambrogio's lupa, who maternal-
had appeared in Siena's art and architecture before the creationly turns her head backward as she licks the nearest suckling
of Ambrogio's War and Peace murals: on the rainspouts of the twin, does not correspond to that of the Roman bronze.
Palazzo Pubblico and in Simone Martini's Siena Maesta. However, it is often found in ancient art.137
Ambrogio
1 A. Lisini, editor, II costituto del comune di Siena volgarizzato nel Lorenzetti, 2 vols., Princeton, N.J., 1958; J. Greenstein,
mcccix e mcccx, 2 volumes, Siena, 1903, reproduces Ambrogio's "TheCity
Vision of Peace: Meaning and Representation in Ambrogio
under Good Government in the frontispiece of volume I, and Lorenzetti's
the Sala della Pace Cityscapes," Art History, XI, 1988,
Countryside under Good Government in the frontispiece of volume 492-510;
II. In Ch. Frugoni, A Distant City. Images of Urban Experience in
the Medieval World, Princeton, N.J., 1991, 118ff; Starn, in R. Starn and
a note preceding the frontispiece of volume I he states that Ambrogio's
mural had never been reproduced before, referring to the cycle toL.which
Partridge, Arts of Power: Three Halls of State in Italy 1300-1600,
Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1992, 11ff; also Starn, Ambrogio Loren-
it belongs in the Sala dei Nove as "gli effetti della pace e della guerra."
2 Nicolai Rubinstein, "Political Ideas in Sienese Art: The zetti, The Palazzo Pubblico, Siena (henceforth Ambrogio Lorenzetti),
Frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Taddeo di Bartolo in the Palazzo New York, 1994; etc.
Pubblico," Journal of the Warburg and the Courtauld Institutes, XXI, 6 As will be further discussed, the areas once covered with bright
metal leaf which have now turned dark in their deteriorated state
1959, 179-207.
3 Quentin Skinner, "Ambrogio Lorenzetti: The Artist as Political included the weapons and armour of the soldiers and the object held
Philosopher," Proceedings of the British Academy, LXXII, 1986, 1-56. by the winged figure belonging to the allegory of commutative justice.
This current of medieval political thought, based in practice in the ars The application of precious metal leaf, whether of gold, silver,
dictaminis and rhetoric, thoroughly influenced by the works of ancient or gilded tin, was widely used in early Trecento Italian mural painting.
Roman authors, endorsed the virtues of concord and justice which It is extensively found in Simone Martini's Siena Maesta, as clearly evi-
guaranteed the peace of the commune. Its representatives included dent in the golden parts of the Virgin's throne, the posts supporting
the baldacchino; etc.
the anonymous author of the Oculus, Orfino of Lodi, Giovanni of
Viterbo and Guido Faba, all active around the early and mid-thirteenth Typically, areas originally receiving metal leaf are defined by
century. decisive incised contours. Usually the metal leaf is no longer present,
4 Skinner has indicated that Brunetto Latini's Tresor influenced unless it consists of gold which resists chemical alteration in time.
the shaping of Ambrogio's Fortitude and Prudence as well as certain Examples abound. In the case of the armour of the dead soldier in the
of the repainted civic virtues at the opposite side of the Commune; etc. mound of corpses of Buffalmacco's Triumph of Death mural in the
(previous note, 48ff). Campo Santo of Pisa the metal leaf is now entirely gone. The most
5 See especially: many authors, Ambrogio Lorenzetti. II Buon extensive application of metal leaf known to me is found in the large
Governo, Milan, 1995 (henceforth Buon Governo); also G. Rowley, mural of the Defeat of the Saracens at Clavijo attributed to Pseudo-
98
quantita di denaro al comuno di Siena..." Giovanni Villani's chronicl

Jacopino. Removed from its original location in the Church of San
Giacomo Maggiore, it is now in Bologna's Pinacoteca Nazionale. Here
informs that Florence experienced the same sequence of prosperity
famine and epidemic disease as occurred in Siena (Cronica di
metal leaf once covered all the soldiers' armour and weapons. Now
a ruin, the mural must have been a splendid work in its original state.
Giovanni Villani, Florence, 1823, VI, Ixxxviii, xci, xcii, xciii, xciv, c, cxiv).
See also, regarding the appearance of metal in European 15 Consiglio Generale, XXIV, fol. 12 (after U. Morandi in many
mural painting of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, L. Tintori, authors, Palazzo Pubblico. Vicende costruttive e decorazione, Siena,
"'Golden Tin' in Sienese Murals of the Early Trecento," Burlington 1983 [henceforth Palazzo Pubblico], 415, doc. no. 28).
Magazine, CXXIV, 1982, 94ff; and 0. Emmenegger, "Metallauflagen 16 For the early construction of the Palazzo Pubblico see M.
und Applikationen an Wandmalereien, Teil 1," Zeitschrift fur Cordaro, in Palazzo Pubblico (note 15), 33ff.
Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, III, 1989, 149-164. To reduce 17 For the documents referring to these early Maestas serving
cost gilt silver or gilt tin was often used instead of pure gold. Giotto Siena's governmental quarters see Morandi, in Palazzo Pubblico (note
applied "false" gold which has turned dark on the haloes of apostles 15), 416f docs. no. 45, 48, 49, 50, 62, 63 and 64.
in his Arena Chapel murals (see Millard Meiss and Leonetto Tintori, 18 Biccherna, CXVII, fol. 347 (see Palazzo Pubblico (note 15), 418
The Painting of the Life of Saint Francis in Assisi, New York, 1967, 178). document no. 87). According to the original documents, the term
Laboratory examination has shown that this false gold consisted of "Maesta" refers to the representation of the Virgin who is crowned, as
a mixture of lead, copper, silver, and a little gold. Differently, Giotto's in the case of Simone Martini's Siena Maesta! It should be noted that
haloes of Christ, which are of pure gold, have remained intact. Clearly, in today's loose art historical parlance this term is often applied to rep-
Ambrogio was fully aware in his time of these commonplace ornamen- resentations of the Madonna who is not crowned, as in the case of
tal practices in mural painting. Duccio's Siena Cathedral altarpiece. Nowhere in the contemporary
I thank both Soprintendente Bruno Santi and Ispettore documents is Duccio's altarpiece referred to as a Maesta! I owe
Alessandro Bagnoli of the Soprintendenza B.A.S. di Siena e Grosseto awareness of this problem to Edna Carter-Southard.
for access to the archival material covering the most recent restoration 19 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 518.
of Ambrogio's Peace and War murals of the later eighties of the last 20 The documents recording payments received by Ambrogio for
century. The restorers were Giuseppe Gavazzi, Giovanni Cabras, the decoration of the Sala dei Nove are listed in many authors, Palazzo
Amedeo Lepri and Angiolo Lombardini. I found no reference in the Pubblico (note 15), 421: no. 168 (Biccherna, CXIC, fol. 80); no. 170
archival material to laboratory examination of samples taken from the (Biccherna, CXIC, fol. 112v); no. 171 (Biccherna, CXIC, fol. 132); no.
parts originally covered with metal leaf. 172 (Biccherna, CXVC, fol. 142v); no. 173 (Biccherna, CXVC, fol. 161);
7 Regarding the chronology of Ambrogio's payments see also no. 174 (Biccherna, CXVC, fol. 189); no. 176 (Concistoro, I, fol. 69v);
Hayden B. J. Maginnis, "Simone Martini, i Memmi e Ambrogio no. 179 (Biccherna, CCI, fol. 66); no. 180 (Biccherna, CCVI, fol. 59);
Lorenzetti," Rivista d'Arte, ser. iv, LI, 1989, ii, 11. see also Maginnis, note 7, 11.
8 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca, 1338 (F. lacometti and A. Lisini, 21 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 538.
Cronache Senesi [Muratori, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XV, 6], 22 For a general account of the history of Ambrogio's Mappa-
Bologna, 1931-1939?, 523): "La citta di Siena era in questo tenpo paci- mondo see Edna Carter Southard, "The Frescoes in Siena's Palazzo
fico e grande stato e felicita, e le pecunia erano abondanti per le piu Pubblico, 1289-1539," Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University, 1978, I,
persone... Avenne in Siena per la tanta felicita e grasseza la gente 237ff, with bibliography; also Gabriele Borghini, Palazzo Pubblico
scoriva e svagliava senza il timore di dio." (note 15), 223. For its precise location on the west wall of the Sala del
9 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (as in previous note, 522): "Siena era Mappamondo see Max Seidel, "'Castrum pingatur in palatio'-ricerche
in questo tenpo in grande e felice stato e per questo i Sanesi comin- storiche e iconografiche sui castelli dipinti nel Palazzo Pubblico di
cioro il grande e nobile acrescimento de la lor chiesa magior catte- Siena," Prospettiva, XXVIII, 1982, 22f; also, recently, Marcia Kupfer,
drale del duomo, il quale acrescimento fu per lo duomo nuovo e "The Lost Wheel Map of Ambrogio Lorenzetti," Art Bulletin, LXXVIII,
grande per lo piano Sante Marie verso la piaza Manetti. El comuno June 1996, 286-310.
conpro molte case per fare detto difitio in piaza Manetti e verso la stra- 23 See especially M. Kupfer, "Medieval World Maps: Embedded
da per far I'entrata del detto duomo." Imagery, Interpretive Frames," World and Image, X-3, 1994, 265-268.
10 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 1338, 523: "Papa Benedetto 24 Concerning the separate living quarters of the Nove during their
scomunico Ii scolari de lo studio di Bologna, e per questo tutti li detti term of office see W. Bowsky, A medieval Italian Commune. Siena under
scolari si partiro e grande parte di detti scolari venero a Ii studii in the Nine, 1287-1355, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1981, 58ff.
Siena del mese d'ottobre." 25 These early plans are reproduced and described in Palazzo
11 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 1338, 523: "In Siena in dettoPubblico (note 15), 359f plans nos. 479-481. The anonymous chroni-
anno fu ordinato e consoli e camerlenghi a molte arti, e fero statuticle
e recording the history of Siena from 1202 to 1362, including some
legi per vivare con justitia." Lisini gives the names of the two juristslater
on additions, briefly describes the original access to the Room of the
page 523, note 1. Nine from the Campo as follows: "e queste pitture (Ambrogio's War
12 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 1340, 525: "Lo statuto
and Peace murals) sono in nel detto palazzo del comuno salito le
grosso del comuno di Siena fu finito di conponare..." schale al primo uscio a mano sinistra; e chi vi va el puo vedere"
13 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 1340, 524: "Caro grandissi- (lacometti and Lisini (note 8), 78).
mo era in questo tenpo per tutta Italia, e valse lo staio del grano piu 26 The shape of these later entrances conforms to others in the
d'uno fiorino d'oro e consegui poi grandi infermita e mortalita, e mori-
palace. It is identical with the door below Taddeo di Bartolo's Saint
va il fiore de la gente; in Siena non rimase uno bono omo." Christopher in the Anticoncistoro (visible in Palazzo Pubblico (note
14 Agnolo di Tura, Cronaca (note 8), 1340, 526: "Grano grande
15), 232 plate 300); nor can the door designed by Bernardo Rossellino
quantita venne a Talamone in nove barche per lo comuno di Sienaindi
1446 for the ancient Sala del Concistoro, although it is more refined,
gienaio, e tutto venne in Siena da gienaio e feraio (1340), che be erafar removed in date (ibid., 95 figs. 113-4; 426 docs. nos. 339-41).
grande carestia, e fu grande allegreza al popolo di siena, e costo gran
An Urbano lapicida is paid on November 29 and December 28, 1466,
99
JOSEPH POLZER
cles (see note 8, xi), considers the legend a product of the fifteent
for making a new door in the "Sala delle Balestre o della Pace" (ibid.,
428 document no. 379). century. The repeated early Trecento appearance of the lupa and th
27 For the view that the main entrance was the small arched door
suckling twins in Siena would confirm Rondoni's view.
on the southern side of the east wall see Starn, Ambrogio Lorenzetti 33 The seal represented in the lower border of Simone Martini'
(note 5), 26. Donato also believes that the principal original door was in the Palazzo Pubblico offers a similar image of the Virgin and
Maesta
located next to Heavenly Justice on the north wall (Buon Governo Child enthroned, flanked by angels and surrounded by the identical text
(note 5), 29). Concerning Siena's early seal see A. Lisini, "Notizie di orafi e di oggetti di
28 The later Trecento repainting at the left side of the city view has oreficeria senese," Bullettino Senese di Storia Patria, XI, 1904, 651; and
been attributed by Cesare Brandi ("Chiarimenti sul 'Buon Governo,"' Hueck, "Una crocifissione su marmo del primo trecento e alcuni smait
Bollettino d'Arte, XL, 4, no. 2, 1955, 119-23) to a painter close to Lippo senesi," Antichita Viva, VIII, 1969, 26. No actual imprint of this seal i
Vanni; and by Luciano Bellosi, with greater probability, to Andrea Vanni extant. Guccio di Mannaia is recorded to have been active as a seal
(in Buffalmacco e il Trionfo della Morte, Turin, 1974, 53f), including as maker in Siena between the years 1292 and 1318 (documents g
well the substantial repainted section at the right side of the Good Hueck, ibid., 32f n. 10). An earlier seal of Siena known from
Government Allegory on the north wall. Brandi linked the major repaint- impression dated 1266, reproduced in Antje Middeldorf Koseg
ing of the three civic virtues seated at the right side of the Good Sienesische Bildhauer am Duomo Vecchio. Studien zur Skulptur i
Government mural to damage caused by the riots which occurred during 1250-1330, Munich, 1984, fig. 37, already offers the same inscripti
the visit of Emperor Charles IV in 1355, or the social upheavals of 1368. 34 The "C" presently visible at the left of the knight's head, pa
29 Erwin Panofsky refers to Ambrogio's "portrait of Siena and... ly overlapped by his hat, is not original, as has been repeatedly
(the) panorama of the fertile, rolling country near-by (as) being the first The early description of the mural by G. della Valle (in Lettere sen
postclassical vista essentially derived from visual experience rather Rome 1782-6,220 note) excludes it (see also G.-B. Cavalcaselle a
than from tradition, memory and imagination" (in Renaissance and A. Crowe, in Storia della pittura in Italia, III, Florence, 1885, 21
Renascences in Western Art, Uppsala, 1965, 142). The idea that Rowley (note 5), I, 99 note 2). It does not appear on the co
Ambrogio's views of Siena and its countryside constitute the first mod- Ambrogio's personification of Siena on the Gabella cover for the
ern realistic landscape abounds in general art history texts: see F. July-December, 1344, in the Archivio di Stato di Siena (reprodu
Hartt: "No such comprehensive panorama of the natural world and its E. Carli, Le tavolette di Biccherna, Florence, 1950, 33).
human inhabitants is known to us from the entire previous history of 35 Personifications can represent other complex entitites, co
art" (History of Italian Renaissance Art. Painting. Sculpture. and geographic, as well as categories of human activity and
Architecture, ed. 3, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and New York, 1987, 117); ledge such as the mechanical and liberal arts; etc. Here we lim
also H. Janson: "It is a true landscape - the first since ancient Roman discussion to the kinds of allegories Ambrogio depicted in the m
times-full of sweeping depth..." (History of Art, Englewood Cliffs, in the Room of the Nine.
N.J., and New York, 1977, 328); etc. John White (in The Birth and 36 For the inscriptions in Ambrogio's Peace and War murals see
Rebirth of Pictorial Space, ed. 1967, Boston, 93ff) duly observed that note 31.
the scale of figures diminishes gradually from the dancers located in 37 Simone Martini's Virgin states:
the center foreground of the city, both sideways as well as into dis-
tance, this including the landscape at the right side of the city. Li angelichi fiorecti rose (e) gigli
30 See White, loc. cit. This scheme of diminishing figural scale is onde s'adorna lo celeste prato
not systematically applied. non mi diletta piu che i buon consigli.
31 For the inscriptions in Ambrogio's murals in the Room of the Ma talor veggio chi per prop(r)io stato
Nine see, conveniently, Ruggero Stefanini, in Starn (note 5), 1994, disprezza me e la mie te(r)ra inganna
99ff; and Furio Brugnolo, in Buon Governo (note 5), 383ff. On Securi- e quando parla peggio e piu lodato.
tas' scroll is written: Guardi ciascun cui questo dir condan(n)a.
(The angelic flowers, roses and lilies
Senza paura ognuom franco camini adorning the heavenly fields
elavorando semini ciascuno do not delight me more than good council.
mentre che tal comuno But some I see who for their own estate
manterra questa don(n)a i(n) signoria despise me and deceive my land,
Chel alevata arei ogni balia. and worse they speak the more they're lauded.
(Without fear every man may travel freely Beware everyone whom this speech condemns.)
and each may till and sow
so long as this commune The Virgin's words, both lauding and warning, address the
shall maintain this lady [=Justice] sovereign actual problems and dangers encountered by the Sienese state. More
for she has stripped the wicked of all power) of her speech appears on the front face of the bottom step:
(Ruggero Stefanini translator).
Responsio Virginis ad dicta san(c)torum.
32 Regarding the legend of Siena's ancient Roman republican Diletti m(i)ei ponete nelle menti
origin, reverting to the two sons of Remus, Aschius and Senus, who, che li devoti vostri preghi onesti
fleeing from their uncle Romulus who intended to kill them, settled on come vorrete vol faro contenti.
Siena's future site, see G. Rondoni, Tradizioni popolari e leggende di Ma se i potenti a debili fien molesti
un comune medioevale, Florence, 1866, 13ff. Rondoni considers the gravando loro o con vergogne o danni
legend to originate in the early years of the Trecento, while Lisini, in le vostre orazion non son per questi
the preface of his and lacometti's edition of the early Sienese chroni- ne per qualunque la mia terra inganni.
100
(The Virgin's answer to these saints: See especially Quentin Skinner' study (note 3) regarding the grou
My beloved consider in your minds ing of Ambrogio's mural cycle in traditional medieval political theo
that your honest devoted requests and Nikolai Rubinstein's examination (note 2) of its Thomistic a
I shall satisfy as you wish. Aristotelian content.
But if the powerful should molest the weak, 45 See Julius von Schlosser, Lorenzo Ghibertis Denkwirdig-
causing them shame or damage, keiten, Berlin, 1912,1, 41.
your prayers are not for these, 46 Paola Barocchi and Rosanna Bettarini editors, Giorgio Vasari,
nor for anyone who deceives my land.) Le vite de'piu eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del
1550 e 1568, Florence, 1966, 11-1, 180. Interestingly, Vasari's account
The Virgin's speech is preceded by a text in smaller writing
of Ambrogio's intellect in his Vita of 1568 is less explicit: "(Ambrogio)
indicating that she responds to a request by saints. The mural's most
visse onoramente il rimanente della sua vita (a Siena), non solo per
recent restoration revealed that the inscription on the lower step
essere eccellente maestro nella pittura, ma ancora perche, avendo
dato opera nella sua giovinezza alle lettere, gli furono utile e dolce
belonged to the original phase of production completed in 1315, while
the inscription on the upper step certainly dates from Simone's compagnia nella pittura... Laonde, non solo pratico sempre con let-
restoration of the Maesta of 1321 (see Alessandro Bagnoli, La Maesta
terati e virtuosi uomini, ma fu ancora, con suo molto onore ed utile,
di Simone Martini, Milan, 1999, 82ff). adoperato ne'maneggi della sua repubblica."
38 The text on the Christ Child's scroll quotes Wisdom: 1, 1. 47 The Roman Republican humanism of Taddeo di Bartolo's
39 For the inscriptions in Taddeo di Bartolo's mural cycle in mural
the cycle is discussed by Nicolai Rubinstein (note 2), 189-207. Of
Anticoncistoro of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena see Rubinstein (as in the uomini illustri theme, in Taddeo's murals confined, with
course,
note 2), 189ff; also S. Symeonides, Taddeo di Bartolo, Siena, 1965,
the exception of Aristotle, to the heroes of the Roman Republic, has
138ff and 168-70. an extended medieval history. Between 1367 and 1379 Francesco di
40 Consider Agnolo di Tura's appellation in his chronicle of vari- Carrara drew on Petrarch's De viris illustribus, completed in 1379 by
ous Capitani del Popolo, or be it Capitani di Guerra, at their appoint- Lombardo della Seta five years after the poet laureate's death, for
ments, as "pacificatore di iustizia et de la liberta della citta di Siena," the decoration of the Sala Virorum Illustrium in his Paduan palace
or close versions thereof. Alan Gewirth gives many examples of the (see T. E. Mommsen, "Petrarch and the Decoration of the 'Sala
titles and oaths taken by officials of various Italian communes, includ- Virorum Illustrium' at Padua," Art Bulletin, XXXIV, 1952, 95-116). The
ing those of Siena, indicating that their primary role was to assure the painter is not known, nor the one who painted the uomini illustri
peaceful condition of their city (in Marsilius of Padua, The Defender of which once decorated a room in the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence.
Peace, New York, 1951, I, 24f; see also H. Pirenne, Medieval Cities,They no longer exist but the epigrams serving them are recorded
Princeton, N.J., 1925, 208; and F. Schevill, Siena. The Story of with an attribution to Coluccio Salutati (see note 42). Uomini famosi
a Medieval Commune, London, 1909, 212; etc.). of varying selection, whether their origin be scriptural, ancient
41 Translated by Bowsky (note 24_, 55f, after F.-L. Polidori and L. Greek, Roman and/or medieval, often decorated the palaces of
Banchi, ed., Statuti Senesi scritti in volgare ne'secoli xiii e xiv, medieval I, rulers. Giotto depicted uomini famosi for King Robert the
Bologna, 1863-. Bowsky dates this oath of office after 1339. See also, Wise in Castelnuovo, Naples (see Lorenzo Ghiberti, I Commentari, Ii,
Costituto (as in note 3), distinction vi, rubric ii; II, 488: "...che essa citta
3; ed. O. Morisani, Naples, 1947, 33; Vasari, Le vite, ed. Milanesi,
et popolo tutto in pace perpetua et pura giustitia si conservi..." 1878, 1, 390f); and Azzo Visconti had a room in his Milanese palace
42 In Taddeo di Bartolo's mural cycle of exemplary Romandecorated with pagan rulers (see Galvano Fiamma, Opusculum de
Republican heroes in the Anteconcistoro of the Palazzo Pubblico in rebus gestis ab Azone, Luchino et Johanne Viscomitibus, ed. C.
Siena (discussed by Nicolai Rubinstein (note 2), 189-207), the identi-
Castiglioni, in Muratori, Rerum italicarum scriptores, Xll-4, Bologna,
ties of the men who advised the painter are recorded (see document 1938, 17). Some other examples, with bibliography, are given in
ASS Concistoro 256, fol. 20v). They were Pietro de'Pecci and Ser Joseph Polzer, "Simone Martini's 'Guidoriccio' Fresco: The Polemic
Cristofano di Andrea. And the epigrams in a mural cycle of uomini concerning its Origin reviewed, and the Fresco considered as serv-
illustri which once decorated a room in the Palazzo Vecchio in ing the Military Triumph of a Tuscan Commune," RACAR, XIV, 1-2,
Florence have been attributed to Coluccio Salutati (see T. Hankey, 1987, 30ff.
"Salutati's Epigrams for the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence," Journal 48 of See note 11.
the Warburg and the Courtauld Institutes, XXII, 1959, 363ff). That the 49 Prior to the arrival of Bolognese professors and students in
subject matter of Ambrogio's murals was carefully controlled byin 1321 the Sienese studium, restricted to grammar and law,
Siena
agents of the government is indicated as well by the commune's con-to have been of minor significance. Concerning the move of
seems
the Bolognese studium to Siena see G. Prunai, "Lo studio senese
trol over all aspects of social life (see recently, Maria A. Ceppari Ridolfi
and Patrizia Turrini, II mulino delle vanita. Lusso e cerimonie dalle
nella origini alla 'migratio' Bolognese, dec. XII-1321," Bollettino
Siena medievale, Siena, 1996). senese di storia patria, LVI, 1949, 53-79; idem, "Lo studio senese dalla
43 "Magister Ambrosius Laurentii alius ex consiliariis dicti consilii
'migratio' Bolognese alla fondazione della 'Domus Sapientiae,'
surgens in dicto concilio ad dicitorium circa dictas duas propositas
1321-1408," Bollettino senese di storia patria, LVII, 1950, 3-54; H.
dixit sua sapientia verba" (Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro, 2, Die Entstehung der Universitaten des Mittelalters bis 1400,
Denifle,
1347, fol. 8v)." I thank Maria Grazia Cipari for her assistance in the1956, 437-44; idem, "L'origine delle universita del medioevo
Graz,
reading of the document. fino al 1400. Siena," in many authors, I tedeschi nella storia dell'uni-
44 Uta Feldges-Henning maintains that Ambrogio's frescoes are di Siena, Siena, 1988,17-24.
versita
"not only a political summa, but rather encompass the whole accumu- 50 On the basis of the shape of the object Chiara Frugoni's iden-
lated knowledge of the time" (in "The Pictorial Programme of the Sala
tification of the latter as a "forziere pieno di moneta: a strongbox full of
della Pace: a New Interpretation," Journal of the Warburg and (most recently in A Distant City, Princeton, N.J., 1991, 122)
money"
Courtauld Institute, XXXV, 1972, 145-62), a claim I find exaggerated.
must be dismissed. Also, this object clearly differs in shape from the
101
JOSEPH POLZER
treasure chests carried by beasts of burden in Nicola Pisano's object of cylindrical shape might be a partially unrolled parchm
Journey of the Magi relief on his Siena pulpit. bearing the laws of Siena which I now reject, based on the misin
51 Skinner (note 3), 40. pretation of the original mural surface. This view was duly criticise
52 Starn, in Starn and Partridge (note 5), 1992, 44f. Max Seidel who underlined, following Maria Monica Donato, that
53 See note 6. objects received by the two men have rather to do with measurem
54 For the identification of the object as a bushel see M. M. and, accordingly, that here Commutative Justice would refer to c
Donato, in Buon Governo (note 5), 35. mercial exchanges. I believe that their view must be taken serio
55 Lisini, Costituto (as in note 1), distinction III, rubric xlix; II, 32f: although their proposed identification of the cylindrical object
"Anco, statuimo et ordiniamo che lo camerlengo et iiij. proveditori del a bushel cannot be sustained.
comune sieno tenuti, per tutto el mese di gennaio, far fare o vero com- 63 The idea that this object could be a sieve came to me after t
prare per lo comune di Siena dodici staia buoni et bene adrittati, di colloquium I gave in 1995 at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Flor
ferro, se fatti non sieno, con li quali el biado si misuri nel Campo del At the time Guido Tigler communicated independently the same i
mercato." I doubt if the entire bushel would have been made of iron with reference to the moral implications of its use for separating c
since this would have made it unnecessarily heavy. It seems more or weed from grain, referring to Matthew 13:24-42 (see P Brau
probable that the statute refers to bushels of wood reinforced with "Cokkel in our clene corn: some implications of Cain's sacrifice
Gesta, VII, 1968, 15-28).
metal bands, as they still are, and as they are represented in the illu-
minations of the Biadaiolo manuscript in the Biblioteca Laurenziana64 For a discussion of the ancient sources of the legend of
and in the relief in Or San Michele (see below). Vestal Virgin Tuccia see especially F. Munzer, "Die romische
56 Scarabelli's Vocabulario della Lingua Italiana (1878, II, column
Vestalinnen bis zur Kaiserzeit," Philologus, XCII, 1937, 203ff, with
636) states that the canna measures 2.92 meters, "ossia cinque brac- rence to Valerius Maximus, Factorum dictorumque memorabilium,
1. di
cia fiorentine o altrove d'altra lunghezza." The Enciclopedia Italiana
scienze, lettere ed arti, VIII, 1930, 732, states nearly the same as fol-65 Petrarch, Trionfo della Pudicizia, 148ff: "Fra I'altre la vestal
lows: "Canna. - Antica misura di lunghezza, che aveva valori diversi vergine pia che baldanzosamente corse al Tibro e per purgarsi d'ogni
nei diversi stati italiani. Al momento dell'adozione del sistema metrico fama ria porto del fiume al tempio acqua col cribro;" also St.
decimale, erano ancora in uso le seguenti canne: Toscana: canna Augustine, Civitate Dei, X, xvi.
agrimens. o pertica di 5 braccia m. 2,918; (canna) mercantile di 4 66 On the exterior rim of the sieve appears the following inscrip-
braccia. (m.) 2,334..." tion: "A terra il ben. Mal dimora in sella." Roy Strong discusses her
57 I am most grateful to Guido Tigler for showing me the relief of sieve portrait in Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, Oxford, 1963, 66ff.
a bushel in Or San Michele and other objects of measurement incised 67 See, Yassu Okayama, The Ripa Index. Personifications and
on the walls of old Florentine buildings. For the illuminator of the their Attributes in Five Editions of the Iconologia, Doornspijk, 1990,
Biadaiolo MS (Cod. Laurenziano-Tempiano No. 3) see M. Boskovits 540; H. F. Gravelot and C.-N. Cochin, in their Iconologie par figures ou
and M. Gregori editors, Boskovits commentator, R. Offner and K. traite complet des allegories et emblemes, etc., a l'usage des artistes,
Steinweg, A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting. Elder I, Geneva, 1972 (orig. ed. n.d.), 57; also Whitney's Choice of Emblems,
Contemporaries of Bernardo Daddi, II-Il, Florence, 1987, 246ff, with ed. H. Green, Manchester, 1966, 68, plate XXa.
bibliography. In the manuscript the latest entries of the price of corn 68 Chiara Frugoni has repeatedly insisted on the erroneous
date from 1335. The image of the Madonna in Or San Michele appear- reversal of the two names (see most recently note 5, 122ff). She refers
ing in one of the illuminations is generally considered to represent the to Nicolai Rubinstein's observation (note 2, 181) that the legend above
altarpiece preceding the extant one by Bernardo Daddi which was the head of the personification of good government, which now reads
completed in 1347. CSCCV, might have been changed from CSCV, since the latter inscrip-
58 Aristotle, Nicomachaean Ethics, V, ii. 12ff. In the Loeb Classical tion appears on the Gabella cover of July-December 1344 (repro-
Library translation (Cambridge, Mass., 1968) H. Rackham uses the duced in Bowsky, note 24, Plate 12). The addition of this C in later
term: 'corrective' instead of 'commutative.' times can hardly be compared to the iconographically erroneous
59 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2a 2ae 61 (Thomas interpolation of significant names in the original composition, which,
Gilby, OP., editor and translator, Black Friar's edition, London and had it occurred, would hardly have escaped the scrutiny of
New York, XXXVII, 1975, 93). Ambrogio's advisors.
60 The illumination is discussed in Claire Richter Sherman, 69 Aristotle, Nicomachaean Ethics, V, ii, 12 (H. Rackham transla-
"Some Visual Definitions in the Illustrations of Aristotle's tor).
Nichomachean Ethics and Politics in the French Translation of Nicole 70 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2a 2ae.61.2.
Oresme," Art Bulletin, LIX, 1977, 320-30, 325 fig. 4. 71 The inscription reads: "QUESTA SANTA VIRTU LADOVE
REGGE. INDUCE ADUNITA LIANIMI MOLTI. EQUESTI ACCIO RIC-
61 Aristotle, Nicomachaean Ethics, V, iii, 1ff; Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica, 2a 2ae 61. 2. Claire Richter Sherman (as inCOLTI.
previ-UN BEN COMUN PERLOR SIGNOR SIFANNO..."
ous note, 326, note 52) observes that "the Roman numerals on the 72 That the State of Siena deeply respected the power of the
Church
rods exactly duplicate in sequence and quantity those indicated by and was devoted to its civic presence is clearly evident in the
Oresme in a gloss as examples of proportionate relationships:first'Ces
distinction of the constitution of 1308-1309 in the extended listing
of the state's obligations to its many religious institutions (see
deux proporcions doubles sont equales et ce est appelle propor-
cionalite; si come nous diron en la proporcion de. vi. a. iii. estCostituto,
equale note 1).
a la proporcion de. iiii. a. ii."' 73 "(Christo) mostro ancora sete e desiderio di giustizia distribu-
tiva,incercando sempre la gloria di Dio, e distribuendo le cose e gli
62 In a talk given at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence
May of 1995 I stated that the two men receiving objects from ufficii
the agli Apostoli; a ciascuno, come si conveniva... La madre com-
winged figure in the representation of Commutative Justice might mise abe San Giovanni; la cura della chiesa commise a San Pietro, il
its executors rather than its recipients. I also stated that the quale I'avea negato, accioche fusse pronto a perdonare; la pace sua e
metal
102
la persecuzione lasgio a'discepoli; al ladrone che lo confesso, il par-82 The soldiers' metal-pointed wooden spears also appear in
adiso; a'cavalieri, le vestimenta; a Giuseppe, il corpo; al Padre - I'an-
Lippo Vanni's mural of the defeat of the Company of the Cappello in Va
ima. Mostro ancora sete e desiderio di giustizia in quanto a vendetta di Chiana of 1363, depicted in the Sala del Mappamondo of the Palazzo
(=commutative justice), quando per zelo della casa di Dio caccio Pubblico (reproduced in Palazzo Pubblico (note 15), figs. 266-8).
le'mercatanti del Tempio, e quando minaccio e riprese li Farisei piu 83 Regarding the different kinds of police serving the commune
volte" (Domenico Cavalca, Specchio di croce, xliv). of Siena, as well as the intricate structure of its military force, see W.
74 Fra Remigio de'Girolami's near contemporary incomplete trea- Bowsky, "The Medieval Commune and Internal Violence: Police Power
tise on justice also begins with the first verse of the Book of Wisdom.
and Public Safety in Siena, 1287-1355," American Historical Review
The treatise has been mentioned in connection with Ambrogio's War LXXIII, 1967,1-17; and idem (note 24), 117-58.
and Peace murals. However, it refers neither to Aristotle's nor Thomas' 84 For example, in 1322 the Salimbeni secretly introduced sol-
division of secular justice into commutative and distributive parts (see
diers from Florence into their palace in Siena, whom they used to
0. Capitani, "Lincompiuto 'Tractatus de iustitia' di fra' Remigio attack the Tolomei, causing some deaths. Were it not for the timely
de'Girolami," Bullettino dell'istituto storico italiano per il medio evo,
intervention of the podesta and his men, as well as the Sienese peo-
LXXII, 1960, 91-134). ple, the situation may have gotten out of control. The ringleader of the
75 The conspicuous absence of God and saints in Ambrogio's plot escaped and took refuge in his "rocha" (the story is related by
Allegory also applies to earlier medieval examples of propaganda Agnolo
art di Tura (note 8), 391).
serving the ruler or state, as evident in no less than the Bayeux 85 For the historical significance of Marsilius' text see Gewirth
Embroidery which relates William the Conqueror's version of the con- (note 40), 1, 3 note 1.
quest of England. There religion appears only as a direct component 86 Marsilius of Padua, The Defensor Pacis, I, xiv; also I, v:
of the narrative: in the scene of Harold swearing fealty to William over "...since the sentences of the judges against injurious and rebellious
portable reliquaries or the saying of mass before the battle ofmen within the state must be executed by coercive force, it was nece-
Hastings. sary to set up in the state a military or warrior part" (Gewirth (note 40),
76 Skinner has offered evidence that Brunetto Latini's Tresor II, 8).
influenced the appearance of Ambrogio's Fortitude and Prudence as 87 Cronaca senese di autore anonimo (lacometti and Lisini (note
well as his repainted civic virtues (note 3, 48ff). Accordingly, it seems 8), 78: "...si delibero di dipingervi dentro (in the Palazzo Pubblico of
that the later Trecento restorer copied Ambrogio's virtues with some Siena) la Pace e la Guerrra."
precision. 88 See Edna Carter Southard (note 22), I, 273, 276ff, who gives
77 From the position of this Justice, whose body is largely ample evidence that Ambrogio's mural cycle was named "Pace e
restored, it is probable that she originally appeared with her hands Guerra" up to the end of the eighteenth century. Consider the sermon
bound. The text in the border beneath the Allegory of Bad Government delivered by Saint Bernardine in 1427: "Voi I'avete (la Pace) dipenta di
begins with the rhyme: "La dove sta legata la iustitia..." sopra nel vostro Palazo, che a vedere la Pace dipenta e una allegreza. E
78 For the identification of this knight of the garter as Sir Edward cosi e una scurita a vedere dipenta la Guerra dell'altro lato" (quoted by
le Despenser see Richard Offner and Klara Steinweg, Andrea Bonaiuti, Edna Carter Southard, ibid., 273). Lorenzo Ghiberti wrote in his
A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting. IV VI, New York, Commentari: "Nel palagio di Siena e dipinto di sua (Ambrogio's) mano
1979, 39. la pace e Ila guerra, evi quello s'apartiene alla pace et come le mer-
79 Luciano Bellosi has repeatedly used this change in fashion of catantie vanno sicure con grandissima sicurta et come e'tornano per
dress, which he discussed in his Buffalmacco e il trionfo della morte, esse. E'lle storsioni si fanno nelle guerre stanno perfettamente" (Julius
Turin, 1974, 41ff, for dating paintings. As indicated, this works on von Schlosser (note 45), I, 41). In 1447 the signoria of Siena ordered
a general plane, but not for closer dating. Bellosi observed that one three tapestries which were to represent the "buono governo del
member of the group of prosperous Sienese guided by the rope from principe," the "pace," and the third the "guerra." These tapestries
Concord to the Commune of Siena has already adopted the new fash- remained in the Palazzo Pubblico until 1809 when they were sent to
ion. He is the only one among his peers to be shown with a mustache France (see S. Borghesi and L. Banchi, Nuovi documenti per la storia
and beard and wearing a short cloak which descends to just below the dell'arte senese, Siena, 1898,157f). In his 1568 edition of Ambrogio's
knees, with sleeves which reach somewhat below the cloak (conve- Vita Vasari is confused regarding the precise location of the murals as
niently reproduced in Buon Governo (note 5), 127). It should be noted, he writes: "Fece ancora nei Palazzo della Signoria di Siena in una sala
as can be seen in Ambrogio's views of the city and contado, that rid- grande la guerra d'Asinalunga (?) e la pace appresso e gl'accidenti di
ers and working men often wear short garments reaching above the quella, dove figuro una cosmografia perfetta secondo que'tempi..." His
knees, surely for convenience's sake. account in his Lives of the artists of 1550 is also confused: "Fece anco-
80 For a discussion of the civic virtue Magnanimity in medieval ra nel Palazzo della Signoria di Siena in una sala grande la Guerra, la
thought see Skinner (note 3), esp. 28ff. He connects Ambrogio's Pace e gli accidenti di quelle, dove figuro una cosmografia perfetta sec-
Magnanimity seated closest to the Commune to the Senecan tradition ondo que'tempi" (see Barocchi and Bettarini (note 46), II, 180).
which assigns this civic virtue primacy inter pares, following the 89 "PER QUESTO CONTRIUNFO ALLUI (the common good)
Epistulae morales, 115.3: "Si nobis animum boni viri liceret SIDANNO. CENSI TRIBUTI ESIGNORIE DITERRE. PER QUESTO
inspicere... videremus, hinc iustitia, illinc fortitudine, hinc temperantia
SENQA GUERRE. SEGUITA POI OGNI CIVILE E-Ft I I0. UTILE NEC-
prudentiaque lucentibus... et ex istis mangnanimitas eminentissima." ESSARIO E DIDILETTO." This text also relates to the two local lords
Brunetto Latini adopts the high position of Magnanimity among civic and the group of contadini led by the man in the red cap holding the
virtues in his Tresor (see F. J. Carmody, Li Livres dou tresor two de keys who voluntarily submit to the authority of the Commune of
Brunetto Latini, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, 1948, 193f), Siena.
which influenced Ambrogio's mural cycle. 90 See note 1.
81 Concerning the widespread use of metal leaf in proto- 91 See the impressive evidence gathered by Skinner (note 3), 6ff,
Renaissance mural painting see notes 6 and 53. including the pertinent passage in Giovanni da Viterbo's Liber de
103
JOSEPH POLZER
regimine civitatum (ed. C. Salvemini, in Bibliotheca juridica mediicecinit aevi, sacramenta; simulque expressit sanctae desiderium animae, et
III, Bologna, 1888-1901, 270): "nam potestas sive rector civitatis, in
epithalamii carmen, exsultans in spiritu, jucundo composuit eulogio,
quantum potest, vitare debet guerram... cum ad officium eius figurato per- tamen." The mystical union of the Christian with God can take
tineat curare modis omnibus, quibus potest ut pacatam, pacificam et
the form of a powerful inner experience akin to sexual orgasm, as in the
tranquillam retineat civitatem, quam regit." Interestingly, Skinnerextasy com- of Saint Teresa (for the relevant autobiographical account see J.
ments as follows: "the pre-humanist treatises continue to invoke M. the
Cohen, The Life of Saint Teresa, Penguin Books, 1957, 210). Her
essentially Roman belief-one that finds no place in Thomist thought- mystical union with God has been effectively represented, her facial
that peace should be viewed not as a mere absence of discord, as expression suggestive of orgiastic experience, in Bernini's famous
Aquinas was to define it, but rather as a state of triumph, a victory over statuary group in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.
the forces of discord and war that constantly threaten to destroy our 100 See Marsilio Ficino's letter to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco
common life" (note 3, 7). de'Medici recommending that he espouse Venus-Humanitas: "Venus,
92 Agnolo di Tura (note 8), 514. that is to say Humanitas,... is a nymph of excellent comeliness, born
93 In his discussion of Peace as a virtue in the Summa of heaven and more than others beloved by God all highest. Her souls
Theologica (2a 2ae 29) Thomas refers exclusively to Scripture and and mind
the are Love and Charity, her eyes Dignity and Magnanimity, the
Church Fathers. Here Aristotle's Nicomachaean Ethics, which he hands Liberality and Magnificence, the feet Comeliness and Modesty.
knew thoroughly and quoted whenever appropriate, did not apply,The whole, then, is Temperance and Splendor. Oh, what exquisite
since Aristotle did not consider the moral notion of Peace. beauty! ...My dear Lorenzo, a nymph of such nobility has been wholly
94 Saint Augustine, De civitate Dei, XIX, 13. See also Thomasgiven into your hands! If you were to unite with her in wedlock and
Aquinas, as in previous note, and the medieval sources given by claim her as yours she would make all your years sweet and make you
Skinner (note 3, 6ff). the father of fine children" (quoted after E. Gombrich, Symbolic
95 "Ne il mondo mai non fu ne sara si perfettamente disposto Images. Studies in the Art of the Renaissance, London and New York,
come allora che a la voce d'un solo, principe del roman popolo e 1972, 42, who connects the letter to Botticelli's Primavera).
comandatore, fu ordinato... E pero (che) pace universale era per tutto, 101 Reproduced in Rowley (note 5), II, fig. 140.
che mai, piu, non fu ne fia, la nave de I'umana compagnia dirittamente 102 See Lorenzo Ghiberti's account in his Commentari (in Julius
per dolce cammino a debito porto correa" (Convivio, IV, v, 8f); "poi che von Schlosser (note 45), I, 40ff, 62f; II, 31). Ghiberti writes that he had
veduto e quanto e da reverire I'autoritade imperiale e la filosofia..." seen a drawing by Ambrogio of an ancient statue of Venus with a dol-
(ibid., VI, vii, 1). phin discovered during the early Trecento construction of the
96 Concerning the primacy of the emperor over the pope in earth- Malavolti Palace, which was highly admired by artists and conoscent
ly matters see Dante's De monarchia, passim, esp. III, xv. See also his (see also R. Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Princeton, N.J., 1956,
nostalgic view of the Roman empire at its height: "nam si a lapsu pri- 294ff; and Panofsky (note 29), 151f).
morum parentum, qui diverticulum fuit totius nostre deviationis, dispo- 103 See note 6.
sitiones hominum et tempora recolamus, non inveniemus nisi sub 104 Skinner (note 3), 7.
divo Augusto monarcha, existente Monarchia perfecta, mundum 105 A triumphant Omphale holding his club looks disdainfully at
undique fuisse quietum. Et quod tunc humanum genus fuerit felix in the drunken Herkules in her power in a mural from the House of
pacis universalis tranquillitate hoc ystoriographi omnes, hoc poete Lucretius in Pompei which is in the Naples Archeological Museum
illustres, hoc etiam scriba mansuetudinis Christi testari dignatus est; (reproduced in Karl Schefold, Pompejanische Malerei. Sinn und
et denique Paulus 'plenitudinem temporis' statum ilium felicissimum Ideengeschichte, Basel, 1952, plate 41). For other Roman works rep-
appellavit" (ibid., I, xvi, 1f). resenting Hercules and "triumphant" Omphale see Wm. H. Roscher,
97 Gewirth translation. Marsilius' notion of peace and its societal ed., Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mytho-
role is discussed by Gewirth (note 40), I, especially in chapter III, 85ff. logie, Leipzig, 1897-1902,111, 887-891.
98 The idea of thought or contemplation represented in form of 106 See also the mural of Venus conquering Mars in the House of
a seated person with the head leaning on a hand is commonplace. the Bicentenary in Herculaneum (reproduced in R. Schilling, La reli-
Joseph frequently assumes this pose in medieval scenes of the gion romaine de Venus depuis les origines jusqu'au temps d'Auguste,
Nativity, as on the seventh century reliquary casket from Sancta ed. 2 [orig. ed. 1954], Paris 1982, plate XX).
Sanctorum in the Museo Cristiano in the Vatican (reproduced in G. The precise ancient source, if any, which inspired Ambrogio's
Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, London, 1971, I, fig. 153), and, Peace remains unknown. As Rowley has observed, Ambrogio's
more recently, so does Rodin's Thinker. Observe the similarly relaxed Securitas was probably influenced by a relief of a Roman Victory in the
sideward leaning position of the inspired Virgil who also wears a plant Pinacoteca in Siena (note 5, I, 95, and II, fig. 140; idem, "Ambrogio
wreath, although his head is not supported by his hand, in Simone Lorenzetti il Pensatore," La Balzana, 1, 1928, 211-220; and "The Gothic
Martini's near contemporary allegory of the three ancient literary gen- Frescoes at Monte Siepi," Art Studies, VII, 1929, 107ff).
res in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. 107 Prudentius, Psychomachia, 631f: "Pax inde fugatis / hostibus
99 This is how Saint Augustine interprets the latter in the City of alma abigit bellum."
God (XVII, 20): "The Canticle of Canticles is the spiritual joy of saintly 108 Reproduced in N. Huse and W. Wolters, The Art of
souls at the nuptials of the King and Queen of the City, of Christ and his Renaissance Venice, Chicago, 1990, 163, fig. 145. For another inter-
Church. This joy, however, is hidden under the veil of an allegory in esting example see the tapestry of Peace, woven by Pietro Fevere in
order to render the desire more ardent and the discovery more delight- 1654 and its design attributed to the shop of Baccio del Bianco in the
ful at the apparition of the bridegroom and his bride." See also Saint Laurentian Library in Florence (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, inv.
Bernard's first sermon on Canticles: "(Solomon), inspired by God, Arazzi 1912-25 n. 21). Here Peace is represented in a shield supported
sang the praises of Christ and his Church, the grace of sacred love, by two winged putti. She is seated, her dress leaving one breast
and the mysteries of the eternal nuptials (Itaque divinitus inspiratus, exposed. She holds an olive branch in the right hand while the left
Christi et Ecclesie laudes, et sacri amoris gratiam, et aeterni connubii hand holds a reversed torch resting on a cuirass.
104
Interestingly, Cesare Ripa (in Iconologia over discrittione di 123 For Taddeo di Bartolo's mural cycle and its inscriptions see
diverse imagini cavate dall'antichita, e di propria inventione, ed.note 15.
Hildesheim and New York, 1970, 375) considers the burning torch, 124 See note 85.
suggestive of concord, a symbol of different peoples united in love. 125 The tomb of Pope Clement II in Bamberg Cathedral is reprodu-
109 In going over the archival material covering the most recentced in the Enciclopedia Cattolica, III, Citta del Vaticano, ed. 1949, 1815f.
restoration of Ambrogio's War and Peace murals I have found no evi- 126 Maria Laura Testi Cristiani refers to the figure as either Divine
dence that samples from the armour of Fortitude were removed for Justice or the Archangel Michael (in Nicola Pisano architetto scultore.
laboratory examination (see also note 6). Dalle origini al pulpito del Battistero di Pisa, Pisa,1987, 191, 276, fig.
110 See previous note. 354; for additional bibliography see 334f, note 20).
111 "Because among men thus gathered together there arise dis- 127 Reproduced in M. Seidel ed., many authors, Giovanni Pisano
putes and quarrels, which if not regulated by the norm of justice would a Genova, Genoa, 1987,106, fig. 59.
cause battles and the separation of men and thus finally the destruc- 128 Reproduced in Seidel, as in previous note, colour plates VIII-IX.
tion of the state, there had to be established in this association (the 129 Reproduced in G. Andress, J. M. Hunisak and A. R. Turner, The
universitas civium or government) a standard of things just andArt of Florence, II, New York, 1988, 803, Plate 439.
a guardian or maker thereof" (Gewirth translator (note 40), I, iv, 8; see 130 The Gabella cover is reproduced in R. van Marle, Iconographie
also I, xv, 6; and I, xix, 12). de I'art profane, New York, 1971 (orig. ed. 1931), II, fig. 388.
112 See note 41. 131 The Justice and the allegories of Amor Patrie and Mutua
113 Saint Augustine, De civitate Dei, XIX, 13; Thomas Aquinas,Benevolentia are reproduced in Palazzo Pubblico (note 15), 250, figs.
Summa Theologica, 2a 2ae 29. 2f. 326-8. For the scenes from Roman history represented on the ceiling
114 For the systemic correllation of virtues and vices in the Middle
of the Sala del Catino see ibid, 245ff, figs. 314ff. The subject matter of
Ages see generally Emile Male, Religious Art in France. The Thirteenththe decorated ceiling is discussed by Edna Carter Southard (note 22),
Century (Harry Bober translator and editor), Princeton, N.J., 1948,I, 399ff; see also M. Jenkins, "The Iconography of the Hall Consistory
101ff; and Adolf Katzenellenbogen, Allegories of the Virtues and Vicesin the Palazzo Pubblico - Siena," Art Bulletin, LIV, 1972, 430-51.
in Medieval Art from Early Christian Times to the Thirteenth Century, 132 For the connection of this relief to Filippo Calendario, its date
New York, 1964. around the mid-fourties of the Trecento, and the fusion of Justice with
115 Superbia is paired with Humilitas in the stained glass windows the Renaissance concept of Venice, see Wolfgang Wolters, La scultura
of Lyons (ca.1220) and Auxerre (ca. 1230) Cathedrals; etc. See alsoveneziana gotica (1300-1460), Venice, 1976, 72ff, cat. no. 49; idem,
Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica, 2a 2ae 161. 2. Storia e politica nei dipinti di Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1987, 228ff; also
116 For a different more harmonious accounting of Ambrogio'sidem, in Umberto Franzoi, Terisio Pignatti, Wolfgang Wolters, II
correllation of virtues and vices see Rowley (note 5), I, 103ff. Palazzo Ducale di Venezia, Treviso, 1990, 119ff, fig. 55 on p. 122.
117 The reliquary triptych belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. 133 Concerning the Justice Capital see George R. Goldner,
Martin. It is reproduced in E. Kantorowicz, The King's Two Bodies,"Niccolo and Piero Lamberti," Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton University,
Princeton, N.J., 1957, fig. 19. 1972, 221ff.
118 The crowned Justice beheading one man and crowning anoth- 134 Reproduced in Anne Markham Schulz, "The Sculpture of
er appearing on an intarsia by Mattia di Nanni, called II Bernacchino, inGiovanni and Bartolommeo Bon and their Workshop," Transactions of
the Anticoncistoro of the Palazzo Pubblico (reproduced in Palazzo the American Philosophical Society, June 1978, 33, fig. 38, with an
Pubblico (note 15), 93, fig. 110) is clearly based on Ambrogio's attribution to Giovanni and a proposed date ante 1442 (34f).
Distributive Justice. Skinner observes (note 3, 46) that Thomas Differently, Debra Pincus attributes the Justice to Bartolommeo Bon
Aquinas uses the crown in relation to justice: "reposita est mihi corona dating the sculpture after 1445 ("The Arco Foscari: The Building of
iustitiae" (Summa Theologica, la 2ae 114. 3). However, Thomas' crown a Triumphal Gateway in Fifteenth Century Venice," Ph.D. Dissertation,
refers to heavenly, and not earthly, reward, and would thus correspond New York University, 1974, 370 - with bibliography).
to the crown which Ambrogio's other Heavenly Justice is wearing. 135 "De ridiculoso simulachro Priapi. Est etiam aliud eneum simu-
119 Simone's Saint Louis panel in Naples is reproduced in F. lacrum valde ridiculosum quod Pria[pum] dicunt. Qui demisso capite
Bologna, I pittori alla corte angioina di Napoli, 1266-1414, 1969, velud spinam calcatam educturus de pede, asperam lesionem pacien-
Rome, Plates IV-lff. tis speciem representat. Cui si demisso capite velut, quid agat explo-
120 The ivory relief made by a Byzantine artist of Christ crowning raturus suspexeris, mire magnitudinis virilia videbis" (Magister
Emperor Otto II and Empress Theophanu in the Musee de Cluny in Gregorius, quoted by G. McN. Rushforth, "Magister Gregorius de
Paris is reproduced in G. Czarnecki, Art of the Medieval World, Mirabilibus Urbis Romae: A New Description of Rome in the Twelfth
Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and New York, 1975, 169, fig. 167. See also the Century," Journal of Roman Studies, IX, 1919, 49). Regarding the
ivory relief of Emperor Romanos and Empress Eudocia crowned by Spinario and its influence in the art of the Middle Ages see W. S.
Christ in the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris. Heckscher, "Dornauszieher," Reallexikon zur deutschen Kunst-
121 See Christ offering the Crown of Salvation to San Vitale in thegeschichte, IV, 1958, 289ff).
apse mosaic of his church, or the processions of saints offering their 136 "In porticu etiam ante hiemale palatium domini pape... quon-
crowns of martyrdom to Christ on the nave walls of the Church of dam singulis mammis aquam abluendis manibus emittebat..."
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, both in Ravenna. (Rushforth, as in previous note, 28).
122 The heaping of books on Justice's lap designating wisdom 137 For example, the lupa who turns her head backward to look at
brings to mind the books located on the lap of Saint Thomas Aquinas the suckling twins appears on the Ara casali in the Vatican. For the
in the Triumph of Thomas panel in S. Caterina, Pisa (concerning its
appearance of the lupa and twins in Roman art see J. B. Carter, in W.
iconography see J. Polzer, "The 'Triumph of Thomas' Panel in SantaH. Roscher, Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der griechischen and romischen
Caterina, Pisa. Meaning and Date," Mitteilungen des Kunsthisto-Mythologie, IV, Leipzig, 1909-15, 202ff; also F. Castagnoli, in
rischen Institutes in Florenz, XXXVII, 1993, 29-70). Enciclopedia dell'arte antica, IV, Rome, 1961, 731f, with bibliography.
105

Ambrogio Lorenzetti War and Peace Murals Revisited

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Ambrogio Lorenzetti's "War and Peace" Murals Revisited: Contributions to the Meaning of

the "Good Government Allegory"

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's War and Peace Murals Revisi

As is well known, Ambrogio Lorenzetti's murals in Nicomachaean

October, 1338, a large part of the Bolognese studium migrated

The state of Siena, in Tuscany then only second in power

2) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, <<Allegory of Good Government,,, as in Fig. 1. Foto Lensini.

important mural there located since the texts representing the

5) Duccio, Altarpiece, Detail: <(Virgin and Christ Child

4) Simone Martini, <<Maesta>>, as in previous Fig.

-'r. m," ~ ^ -,. f , ~,,'~

-o3J ^ ^4-~. . . .kt ...

8) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, <<The Effects of Good Government

7) Neroccio di Bartolomeo, <<Saint Bernardine Preaching in

armed force serves two ends. It testifies to the commune's

12) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 1. (<Bad Government,.

city and countryside with its people suffering the conseque

their content was most carefully controlled by appropriate

14) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: <(Distributive

In LLhip-~wnLijc,~. ?'bU VT IIhOllltit Con

-t tv1 t 1o hcPI iU.1

i. 11 riD c iut-I i lflhaftubuniAc

F iwi in"? lUft h

rv- -1d i'LJ . 6 -

17) Nicole Oresme, French translation of Aristotle's

19) Anonymous Painter, (<Queen Elizabeth I of England>,

by the advisor (or ad

The concepts of Distributive and Commutative

rarely represented in medieval art. They do appear, exception-

Laying the ground work for properly understanding her

gentleman wearing a garter over tight fitting hose who stands

men actively pursuing evil deeds in the city and contado of

Understandably, it pervades the rhetoric of Renaissance

Last but not least, the cushion supporting Peace rests on

26) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 12. Detail: <<War,>. Foto

completed in 1324, and it was condemned by Pope John XXI

Concerning the Composition and Correllation

In surveying the composition of Ambrogio's virtues and

30) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 12. Detail: <Timor>,. Foto

Allegory she follows the Commune in importance. Here her

32) (Emperor Henry II represented as Rex lustitiae,, Gospe

31) (King Robert the Wise of Naples Enthroned, Flanked by

'._ -..-_ .~_. .........-

34) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: c(Civic Justice

and Peace murals in Siena, in a relief representing Ven

36) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as in Fig. 2. Detail: (<The She-Wolf

Interestingly, the specific source used by Ambrogio for one of

quantita di denaro al comuno di Siena..." Giovanni Villani's chronicl

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