Controversy in Siena over temporary reconstruction of Duomo Nuovo by Tresoldi

The idea began to circulate in Siena last year, but the City Council is now moving to action: the goal is to temporarily rebuild the Duomo Nuovo, the extension of the Cathedral that was approved in 1339 and would have given birth to a huge house of worship, but whose construction, directed first by goldsmith and engineer Lando di Pietro, then by sculptor Giovanni d’Agostino, was interrupted after the plague of 1348 because of the severe economic crisis that had hit the city in the wake of the event. Today, only the parts of the Duomo Nuovo that were completed before the work was interrupted remain: the extension of the east side and the so-called “facciatone,” a masterpiece of Sienese Gothic architecture that has become a popular vantage point today. Of course, this would not be a reconstruction in the strict sense of the building: the idea of Mayor Luigi De Mossi is to entrust the work to Edoardo Tresoldi, a Milanese artist born in 1987, who has virtually reconstructed several buildings with his wire mesh works (his Basilica of Siponto is very famous in this regard). And the same could happen in Siena.

Last July 26, Siena’s city council met to deliberate on a technical study for the eventual installation of the work in Piazza della Quercia: this is not a project elaborated ex novo, since, as anticipated, the idea dates back to March 2021, when the city administration thought of Edoardo Tresoldi to have “an artistic work to be placed presumably in Piazza Jacopo della Quercia” (so in last year’s resolution), to relaunch the city after the Covid-19 pandemic. The municipality had deliberated the sum of 10,000 euros plus vat to have Tresoldi create the model of the work, and now, with the July 27 council resolution, the city administration has given the go-ahead for the executive design. The municipality will spend 150 thousand euros for the design and engineering tests, but the operation will cost about 2 million euros, which should be financed by private sponsors.

The construction of the work, which the municipality says should be ready by March 1, 2023, is of course subject to architectural compatibility checks in the context of Jacopo della Quercia Square, although it has already been noted that the installation will not cause “any detriment to the integrity of the heritage and can, at the same time, represent an effective vehicle for the enhancement of the historic center, as well as raising public awareness of contemporary art” (so in the resolution). Tresoldi, the resolution reads, has already made it known that he “is available to the advancement of the design process of the artwork.”

For now, however, this is not a green light for the work, Mayor De Mossi explained: the installation remains at the status of a “hypothesis” for the time being, for which the actual conditions of feasibility need to be clarified. “I want to clarify the intent that moved me, that of proposing to the territory an innovative and courageous operation, of great scope,” the first citizen told the newspaper La Nazione. “Not an artistic action as an end in itself, but an initiative capable of making people talk about itself in Italy and outside, and of activating new cultural tourism circuits even in periods that are normally less lively for Siena. However, at the moment, this is only an embryo of a project. The junta with its act has created the conditions so that we can move on to the executive planning phase: but this will happen only and exclusively if first we are able to secure external private sponsorships, something we are working on in these very weeks. I am thinking in particular of national-level sponsorships, which might be interested in converging on the territory for such a high-profile operation and which we would otherwise never be able to intercept. I am the first to think that the priority at this historical stage should be to respond to the economic crisis, to the post-pandemic difficulties, to the effects of the war. Families need help, and that is what we will focus on in the next budget. However, if we were able to find from external sponsors all the necessary resources, then an operation like this could become an engine for promotion, economic development, jobs.”

In short, forward but with caution, the mayor seems to say: the Tresoldi opera will be there if the resources are found. Meanwhile, however, the idea is creating controversy. Many points are being debated: theeconomic aspect (i.e., the Municipality’s commitment to spend 150 thousand euros despite the lack of certainty of resources from private individuals), the appropriateness of spending so much for a temporary installation, thearbitrariness of the reconstruction since we don’t know for sure what the Duomo Nuovo was supposed to look like, and the lack of involvement of citizens and cultural operators in the area.

From the Sena Civitas circle comes a dry “no thanks”: “while we are not opposed to the integration of contemporary art in strongly historical contexts such as Siena,” the circle explains, “we believe that the inclusion of such works should have an overall sense of enhancement and decoration for our city. To be, therefore, the result of an articulated and innovative project that touches the urbanism of the city with the creation of new paths and with the enhancement of places that are today ’scattered’. A ’double’ Siena, where the contemporary is placed next to, in perfect integration with, its historical charm. So a totally new and expanded vision.” Sena Civitas also stresses that a project such as this “cannot disregard the involvement of the city and its cultural forces,” and that what the junta proposes would not take into account these dynamics, as it appears extemporaneous and “untied from an underlying vision that must be broad and participatory.” In short, for Sena Civitas it is a matter of “doing so much to do.” Criticism also on the economic chapter: “we believe that the logic of funding must be completely overturned. First the certainty of external sponsors, then the start of the project. Spending € 150,000 of public money for a ’suggestion,’ as the mayor said in today’s interview, seems to us, given the historical period we are living, an act of absolute irresponsibility.”

The council group of the Sienese PD, composed of Alessandro Masi, Luca Micheli, Giulia Periccioli and Bruno Valentini, also submitted an urgent question on Tuesday: “Press reports,” the question reads, “are raising confusion and discontent in the city, where families and businesses are reckoning with the economic crisis and do not understand the expense of this initiative, in addition to doubts about its compatibility with the delicate context in which it is imagined.” The PD therefore asks the mayor “whether a cost of two million for an installation of a temporary nature is not considered excessive; whether there is reasonable certainty of finding the financial resources that are lacking and without which the 162 thousand euros already committed would only seem an unjustified waste, bordering on fiscal damage, and in any case whether this possible expense is reflected in the multi-year budget of theAuthority; whether it is true that the goal is to make a model several tens of meters high of the New Cathedral of which authoritative scholars say there is no original design and, therefore, without being able to comply with any credible reconstruction, but only imagined by the artist.”

Given the mayor’s absence, the Pd was answered by Culture Councillor Pasquale Colella, who wanted to reassure especially on the economic aspect: “From the verification made with the offices in charge,” he said, “I can report that, at the moment, it is only an embryo of a project. The Council with its act has given direction for the appropriate technical investigations, first of all on the economic sustainability and then on the executive design that will take place only and exclusively if we are able to secure external private sponsorships, particularly at the national level that might be interested in converging on the territory for an operation of this nature and that otherwise we would never be able to intercept.” The spending commitment for the design, the councilor further specified, “will be made exclusively if there are external resources to cover the entire cost. To date, no legally binding obligation is known to have been undertaken by this administration.” For now, therefore, the project remains on paper, but it is not certain that if resources from external sponsors arrive, we may not see the New Cathedral rebuilt in wire mesh.

Pictured is the facade of the Duomo Nuovo. Photo Opera del Duomo di Siena

Controversy in Siena over temporary reconstruction of Duomo Nuovo by Tresoldi

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