Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala

Facing Siena Cathedral, Santa Maria della Scala served as a hospital for centuries, caring for the sick, sheltering pilgrims and raising abandoned children. Its former halls and underground spaces now form a museum complex that includes the Pellegrinaio frescoes, archaeological collections and the original sculptures of the Fonte Gaia.

Why it matters

The hospital was a major charitable institution on the Via Francigena. Its fifteenth-century Pellegrinaio frescoes record aspects of hospital care and administration, while the building itself preserves layers of civic, religious and medical history. The complex also houses the National Archaeological Museum and the original marble sculptures from Jacopo della Quercia's Fonte Gaia.

What to notice

In the Pellegrinaio, Vecchietta's 1441 Dream of the Mother of the Blessed Sorore accompanies six scenes by Domenico di Bartolo, painted between 1440 and 1444, depicting care of the sick and the distribution of alms. Priamo della Quercia's Investiture of the Rector dates to 1442. In the Fienile, Jacopo della Quercia's original Fonte Gaia marbles stand alongside nineteenth-century replacement panels by Tito Sarrocchi. The underground galleries contain Etruscan material from across the province, including bucchero and canopic urns from Chiusi.

Context and history

The hospital is documented in a donation act of 1090 and takes its name from the steps opposite the Cathedral. It expanded its care for pilgrims and the poor over the following centuries; the Pellegrinaio was built after 1328. The hospital continued operating until 1995. A recovery project designed by Guido Canali followed a 1992 competition, and the museum complex opened in 1997–98, connecting the monumental halls with the subterranean network.