A presentation of the Cathedral of Siena.

2. Piazza Del Campo
Duomo

5. Siena Cathedral rising majestically in the eponymous city
square, is one of Italy's most illustrious Romanesque and
Gothic cathedrals.
Entering the Cathedral means not only experiencing
spiritual elevation but also opening up to beauty and
exploring one of the city's most valuable art treasures.

7. According to tradition, the present Cathedral
replaces an earlier church dedicated to the Virgin
Mary erected in the 9th century or thereabouts on
the site of a temple serving the cult of Minerva.
Equally unconfirmed rumour suggests that the
building was consecrated in 1179 in the presence
of Sienese Pope Alexander III Bandinelli after the
papacy had made peace with the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa.

10. The Cathedral contains numerous masterpieces from every age
but its marble mosaic inlay and graffito floor is in many ways
its most prized possession. Giorgio Vasari certainly considered
it the "most beautiful..., largest and most magnificent floor
ever made".
The floor we see today is the product of a programme that got
under way in the 14thcentury but was only completed in the
19th century.

11. It is no exaggeration to say that the greatest sculptors of every
age have worked for Siena Cathedral.
Their number includes Nicola Pisano who carved the pulpit.
Donatello whose surviving work is a statue of St. John the
Baptist in the eponymous chapel.
Michelangelo who carved St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Pius and St.
Augustine for the Piccolomini altar.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini who carved the statues of St. Mary
Magdalen and St. Jerome in the "Cappella del Voto“.

12. The Piccolomini altar Donatello, Saint John the Baptist

13. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Saint JeromeNicola Pisano, The pulpit

14. The Cathedral also contains a wealth of sculpture by such
artists as Tino di Camaino who carved the tomb of Cardinal
Riccardo Petroni.
Antonio Federighi who produced the superb holy-water
stoups and the Holy Saturday Font in the Chapel of St. John
the Baptist.
Lorenzo di Pietro, known as Vecchietta, who cast the Bronze
Tabernacle on Baldassarre Peruzzi's altar.
Francesco di Giorgio Martini whose contribution to the
decoration of the Cathedral.
Domenico Beccafumi who cast the eight angels set on pillars
flanking the high altar.

15. The Piccolomini Library is a unique masterpiece of the greatest art-
historical importance by virtue of its cycle of frescoes painted by
Pinturicchio depicting scenes from the life of Pope Pius II set off by
a dazzling vault decorated in the "grotesque" style.

16. Pinturicchio, Meeting between Frederick III and Eleonora of Aragona

17. The chancel area hosts four large frescoes by Ventura Salimbeni and Alessandro Casolani.
The Cathedral's altarpieces including work by such masters as Carlo Maratta and Mattia
Preti.
Ventura Salimbeni, The Sienese saints

18. Carlo Maratti, The Visitation
Alessandro Casolani, The adoration of the shepherds

19. Stained Glass
The Cathedral's collection of stained glass is also of the greatest interest. The most important
example is Duccio di Boninsegna's rose window, which once graced the oculus above the
apse.

20. Pastorino de' Pastorini, Last supper Duccio di Buoninsegna,
Sant'Ansano