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Siena’s museums
millennia of art and tradition
Siena is, as a whole, an open-air museum, but it is inside its historic palaces that the most precious treasures of Gothic and Renaissance civilization are kept. Visiting Siena’s museums does not only mean admiring works of art, but coming into direct contact with the pride and spirituality of a people who made beauty their banner.
The route can only begin with the Civic Museum, located inside the Palazzo Pubblico. Here, among the majestic halls of civic power, you can contemplate the fresco of the "Good Government" by Ambrogio Lorenzetti: one of the first and most important civic-themed works in art history, which even today offers a timely lesson on how justice and harmony can make a community flourish. Beside it, the Maestà by Simone Martini shines with elegance and refinement, bearing witness to the peak of the Sienese school.
For those who love sacred painting, the National Picture Gallery is an unmissable stop. Housed in the Buonsignori and Brigidi palaces, it holds the largest collection in the world of gold-ground paintings. Through its rooms, you can follow the artistic evolution of great masters such as Duccio di Buoninsegna, the Lorenzetti brothers and Sassetta, whose works strike for their vibrant use of color and the delicacy of their lines.
Finally, the Museum of the Cathedral Works offers a privileged perspective on the cathedral. In addition to housing the legendary Maestà by Duccio, the museum allows access to the "Facciatone": the unfinished part of the New Cathedral from which you can enjoy the most spectacular and iconic view over the whole city and the surrounding countryside. Every museum in Siena is a fragment of one great mosaic that tells the greatness of a Republic that has never stopped shining.
CURIOSITY
THE ADVICE
ATTRACTION
The Picture Gallery and the "Gold Grounds" If you want to avoid the crowds at the most famous sites, take refuge in the National Picture Gallery. This is where the city’s artistic soul lives: the largest collection in the world of gold-ground panels. The advice is to linger on the details of the faces painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna: their Byzantine elegance will leave you speechless, in an atmosphere of total calm.
The Facciatone (Opera Museum) Inside the Duomo Opera Museum, you can climb up to the “Facciatone”, the imposing remnant of the never-finished façade of the New Duomo. It’s Siena’s most iconic viewpoint: from here you can take the perfect photo that captures all of Piazza del Campo, the Torre del Mangia, and the ochre-colored rooftops of the medieval city.
The "Good Government" Fresco In the Civic Museum (Palazzo Pubblico), look closely at Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco. It’s a kind of 1338 "Google Earth": it describes with incredible precision how the Sienese lived, from work in the fields to artisans’ workshops, up to nobles on horseback. It is considered the first great political-social message in the history of Western art.
Tourist Information
Single Ticket:
Consider buying the “Siena Card” or combo tickets that include Palazzo Pubblico and Santa Maria della Scala to save on admission.
Hours:
Civic museums are usually open from 10:00 to 19:00, but the Pinacoteca often has shorter afternoon hours or is closed on Mondays; always check before you go.
Photography:
In most museums you can take photos without flash, but remember that at the Pinacoteca the rules are very strict to protect the fragile medieval panels.