At Piazza del Duomo, southwest of Piazza del Campo, stands an architectural fantasy. With its colored bands of marble, the Sienese Duomo is an original and exciting building, erected in the Romanesque and Italian Gothic styles in the 12th century. The dramatic facade, designed in part by Giovanni Pisano, dates from the 13th century, as does the Romanesque campanile (bell tower). The zebralike interior of black-and-white stripes is equally stunning. The floor consists of various inlaid works of art depicting both biblical and mythological subjects. Numerous artists worked on the floor, notably Domenico Beccafumi. The octagonal 13th-century pulpit is by Nicola Pisano (Giovanni's father), one of the most significant Italian sculptors before the dawn of the Renaissance. The Siena pulpit is his masterpiece; it reveals in relief such scenes as the slaughter of the innocents and the Crucifixion. The elder Pisano finished the pulpit in 1268, aided by his son and others.
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Cathedral of Santa Maria  |
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Shelly in front of the Duomo  |
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The Belltower  |
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