Frescoes of the Good and Bad Government
by Ambrogio LORENZETTI

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's most revolutionary achievement - one of the most remarkable accomplishments of the Renaissance - is the fresco series that lines three walls of the room in the Palazzo Pubblico where Siena's chief magistrates, the Nine, held their meetings (Sala dei Nove). The size of the room is 2,96 x 7,70 x 14,40 m.

Ambrogio's task was unprecedented, for he was apparently called upon to paint allegorical depictions of good and bad government and to represent the effects such regimes would have in the town and the country. The result is the first panoramic city/countryscape since antiquity, and the first expansive portrait that we have of an actual city and landscape. Today, the cycle is usually identified as Good and Bad Government. Ambrogio chose the best-illuminated walls for Good Government and its effects, leaving Bad Government in the shadows on a wall that has also suffered considerable damage.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Madonna of Vico l'Abate
1319
Tempera on wood, 149 x 78 cm
Museo di Arte Sacra, San Casciano in Val di Pesa (Florence)

869*1600
True Color
215 Kb



Allegory of the Good Government
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1377*750
True Color
177 Kb



Allegory of the Good Government (left view, detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

940*1012
True Color
130 Kb



Allegory of the Good Government (left view, detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1330*1000
True Color
219 Kb



Allegory of the Good Government (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

950*1063
True Color
175 Kb



Allegory of the Good Government (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1074*838
True Color
137 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

2000*964
True Color
273 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1354*757
True Color
172 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1196*915
True Color
175 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1244*850
True Color
168 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1288*800
True Color
200 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

940*650
True Color
151 Kb



Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1200*807
True Color
223 Kb



The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1500*922
True Color
286 Kb



The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1230*674
True Color
157 Kb



The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

920*1130
True Color
203 Kb



The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1074*714
True Color
150 Kb



Allegory of Bad Government (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

668*909
True Color
151 Kb



Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government on the City Life
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

1322*730
True Color
179 Kb



Effects of Bad Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

648*925
True Color
143 Kb



Effects of Bad Government on the Countryside (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

929*619
True Color
146 Kb




Paintings by Ambrogio LORENZETTI
Good and Bad Government | various paintings