A jewel visible only in a few months of the year
It is only in the period between the end of June and the end of July, and then from the 18th of August until the 18th of October that something extraordinary can be admired in Siena. This is the time in which there is the unveiling of the floor of the Siena Cathedral, an unmatched work within the Italian artistic panorama. To characterise the floor of the Cathedral of Siena – according to the biographer Giorgio Vasari “the most beautiful, the largest and most magnificent that has ever been made” – is the series of fifty-six large squares that were almost all made with the marble inlay technique (tarsia marmorea), a type of execution that stands out from the mosaic for a greater degree of complexity.
Sacrifice of Isac, D.Beccafumi, 1546-47, marble floor of Siena Cathedral
Eighty-five metres of beauty
What is striking about this huge ‘marble carpet’, about eighty-five meters long, is its aesthetic beauty since the visitor can admire the wonderful images created by combining marbles of different colours that have been expertly inlaid; the precious materials used for this floor come from Montagnola, an area located in the western part of the province of Siena.
Pagan images within a Christian worship place
In addition to this, the charm of the floor of the Siena Cathedral also lies in its surprising iconography; considering that we are inside a Christian worship place, what we would expect to find here is a series of Christian iconographic themes.
Instead, what it can be seen under own feet, while someone is walking through the Cathedral’s aisles, is hundreds and hundreds of figures inserted into scenes that are in some cases a pagan subject while in others episodes of the Old Testament.
The central nave of the Siena Cathedral with the unveiled marble floor
A journey into the history of the Humankind Salvation
From Hermes Trismegistos to the Slaughter of the Innocents, passing through the representation of the Sibyls, the Mount of Wisdom and the Stories of the Exodus, a journey into the history of the Humankind Salvation unfolds on this splendid floor which has been articulated through references to the texts of philosophers and writers of antiquity, as well as those of the authors of early Christianity of which the artists who made the marble inlays took care to report the exact textual quotations. Indeed, another fascinating constituent of this floor is the conspicuous presence of inscriptions, in Latin and in the vernacular, which represent the essential reading key to interpret the complex and sometimes rare iconography of this grandiose work.
How to book a tour of the Duomo and the floor?
For more information on a private guided tour of the floor of the Siena Cathedral, consult the dedicated section by clicking here ⟣
