File:Siena, the story of a mediaeval commune (1909) (14593316568).jpg

Identifier: cu31924028378812 (find matches)
Title: Siena, the story of a mediaeval commune
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Schevill, Ferdinand, 1868-1954
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, C. Scribner
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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e ruling bodies of church and state.The metal and wood workers of Siena, therefore, chieflyproduced in their shops, as the highest expression of theirskill, crucifixes, reliquaries, chalices, choir-stalls, andother articles, serving to decorate the places of worshipand to ennoble the service of the Mass. Among thevarious classes of craftsmen traceable in the Siena ofthe trecento, the goldsmiths more particularly seem tohave enjoyed a great reputation, and one of them,Lando di Pietro, who, after the manner of his time, wasalso an architect and in this capacity drew the boldplan for the uncompleted duomo nuovo, was chosen tofashion the crown used for the coronation of Danteshero, Henry VII. This crown, as well as Landosother works, are lost or, what is more likely, were, by anage devoted to another style in jewel ornaments, re-turned to the crucible, unless it be that the exquisitelyworked reliquary of San Galgano, preserved by the nunsof the Santuccio near Porta Romana, is of his hand.
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Bronze Banner-holderBy Cozzarelli (attached to the Palazzo del Magnifico) THE ARTISTIC SPIRIT 335 However, as this work has been also claimed forUgolino di Vieri, we must, waiving the question of attri-bution, be content to receive it as an earnest of fourteenthcentury skill and taste. The mediaeval records provethat republican Siena harbored within her walls, inaddition to goldsmiths, numerous workers in wood,iron, and stained glass, but when we search for the sur-viving evidence of their handiwork, we find that itreduces itself to a few scattered articles. True, aftertime and man have for centuries done their worst todisperse the artistic treasures of Siena, the town is stillremarkably rich in the product of the crafts, but anexamination will show that this product belongs, in itsbulk, either to the period of transition or to the fullRenaissance. As characteristic examples of this work,conceived in the forms popularized by the new civiliza-tion, I may refer to the delicately ornate

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