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Abstract
This dissertation examines the role and significance of native artistic tradition in art projects commissioned by the Sienese city government in the Quattrocento. A contextual approach is taken, involving three interrelated approaches: (1) an investigation of individual works of art, exploring examples of the survival, revival, and reappraisal of past artistic tradition in fifteenth-century civic commissions; (2) an examination of political, ideological, and cultural trends in Sienese civic life; and (3) a discussion of contemporary references to art in Quattrocento Siena.
These approaches have been integrated into three chapters, each organized along chronological lines. Chapter One discusses Siena's artistic and political heritage, the "Golden Age" of Sienese art and society (1248-1348). The chapter surveys the canonical works of civic patronage, highlighting the key role of art in the articulation of civic ideals.
The following chapters examine Sienese civic art of the fifteenth century, focusing on two clusters of civic commissions, organized in chronological periods, and viewed in their contemporary context, in order to discern the impact of prevailing political and cultural tendencies on civic art and on the construction of civic identity.
Chapter Two deals with civic art commissioned in the early years of the Quattrocento (1403-1430). The chapter charts political and cultural developments in this period, followed by an examination of three artistic projects: Jacopo della Quercia's Fonte Gaia (1408-19), Taddeo di Bartolo's Roman Republican Heroes frescoes (1413-14), and the Siena Baptismal Font (1416-34).
Chapter Three focuses on civic art commissioned in the mid-Quattrocento. The chapter outlines the shifting orientation--political and cultural--of Sienese civic life in the years 1431-56, followed by three case studies of civic art: Giachetto di Benedetto's Good Government, Peace, and War tapestries (1446), the Madonna delle Grazie chapel (begun 1447), and the Cappella de'Signori altarpiece and predella (1448-52).
An Epilogue discusses developments in Sienese civic art in the second half of the Quattrocento. The transformation of Sienese government and society in this period brought a corresponding change in the role of local artistic tradition in Sienese public image.
An Appendix includes transcriptions of documents relevant to artistic projects and historical events and passages from literary sources.