Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena

The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena brings together a major collection of Sienese painting in the Buonsignori and Brigidi palaces. Gold-ground panels and later Renaissance works trace changing artistic traditions from Duccio's period onwards.

Why it matters

The collection developed through efforts to preserve works dispersed from churches and other institutions. It allows the history of Sienese painting to be studied across generations rather than through a single artist or monument.

What to notice

Duccio, Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers represent the early Sienese tradition. Works by Giovanni di Paolo, Sano di Pietro, Sassetta and Matteo di Giovanni extend the account through the fifteenth century. Beccafumi and Sodoma give the Renaissance holdings a different character, while later painting broadens the collection's chronology.

Context and history

Giuseppe Ciaccheri and Luigi De Angelis helped form the nucleus of the collection between the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Donations and transfers subsequently enlarged it. The state gallery opened in the Buonsignori and Brigidi palaces in 1932, and Cesare Brandi's reorganisation and 1933 catalogue became important stages in its scholarly history.