Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena

The Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, housed inside Palazzo Buonsignori and the adjoining Palazzo Brigidi, is the world's most significant collection of paintings by the Sienese school, with particular reference to those of the 14th and 15th centuries. However, the collection also includes masterpieces from the Mannerist and Baroque periods.

From Duccio di Buoninsegna to Simone Martini up to Sano di Pietro and il Vecchietta, the museum's second floor is a chronological journey from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Prominent among the works on display here are the Polittico (Polyptych) No. 28 and the valuable “Madonna dei Francescani” (Our Lady of the Franciscans” by Buoninsegna and the “Annunciazione” (Annunciation) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (the last known work by the Sienese painter). Also noteworthy is the famous “Sposalizio mistico di Santa Caterina” (Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine), a panel by Michelino da Besozzo that is also the only work signed by the artist.

The 16th and 17th centuries also characterized Siena for the quality of its artistic production, which is well represented in the Pinacoteca on the lower floor. The most important representatives of the period were il Sodoma and Domenico Beccafumi, and of the latter, of particular note is the large painting of Saint Catherine of Siena receiving the stigmata between Saints Benedict and Jerome.

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