Fragment of ancient fresco found in Siena cathedral

During regular inspections of structures and ancient artistic artifacts in Siena Cathedral, a large fragment of an ancient fresco resurfaced while removing the altarpiece depicting the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena made by Florentine artist Pietro Dandini. Despite the wear and tear of the mortar, a few busts of saints are still visible, all with gilded haloes decorated with molds. This is an ancient figuration painted on the backdrop of the late medieval chapel that serves as an ornament to a triptych on a panel placed on the altar. There is precious evidence of this arrangement depicted by Pietro di Francesco Orioli on the cover of the Gabella of 1483 (now in the State Archives of Siena), on which he wanted to have painted the tribute of the keys of the city to the venerated image of the Madonna delle Grazie.

Thanks to paper documents preserved in the great archive of the Opera del Duomo, it is possible to trace the name of the artist who frescoed the backdrop of the chapel at the time dedicated to St. Anthony Abbot. On April 6, 1400, Paolo di Giovanni Fei was paid as much as 15 gold florins “per chagione di cierto lavorio che fecie a la cappella di sant’Antonio in duomo, cioè, di dipintura, per oro e azurro, e ogni altra sua spesa.” What remains of the saints’ faces still allows us to recognize the manner of Paolo di Giovanni Fei (Siena, known from 1369 - died 1411), one of the greatest painters of the time, who was able to recover the lesson of the great masters of the early 14th century.

Source: MiBAC

Pictured is the recovered fresco.

Fragment of ancient fresco found in Siena cathedral

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