Il Pavimento del Duomo As one first walks into the main cathedral of Siena, Italy the decoration comes across as very busy and it is difficult to decide what to look at first. The eyes are drawn to, of course, the black and white marble stripes that dominate a the inside of the cathedral or the 172 marble heads of popes past looking down. However, this is not the marble in which Giorgio Vasari, Italian artist and art historian from the sixteenth century, commented on during his time in Siena. After The 2500 square meters of marble floor is certainly one of the main features of the cathedral, as it has a total of 56 decorative panels as well as more than sixty different decorative frames created by roughly forty different artists (“The most beautiful, largest and most magnificent floor that was ever made!”). The detailed decoration of the floor seems to have started in the second half of the fourteenth century, right after they gave up on trying to enlarge the cathedral, and continued through the sixteenth century.
The floors, which are only fully visible about ten weeks out of each year, continue telling the stories that are visible first from the front façade. Interestingly, none of the fifteen panels in the nave are particularly religious. Along the left and right isles are depictions of ten sibyls holding goods such as scrolls and books, which symbolize knowledge. Each sibyl is telling the stories of the coming of the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus Christ, clearly representing the humanistic time period in which they were created. The sibyls were laid on the floor between 1481 and 1483 under the direction of Alberto Alighieri (the superintendent of works on the cathedral floor at the time). Even for just these ten panels we know of six artists who contributed. One German artist, Vito di Marco is credited for The Cumaean, The Delphic, The Persian and The Phrygian Sibyls. The Samian Sibyl was worked on by Matteo di Giovanni, The Albunenan Sibyl by Benvenuto di Giovanni and The Hellespontine Sibyl by Neroccio di Bartolomeo de Landi, The two other sibyls, The Erythraean and The Libyan were originally designed by Antonio Federighi and Guidoccio Cozzarelli, respectively, but much work was done to these particular panels since then. Each of the sibyl panels were designed using the graffito technique, in which scenes were scratched into the marble and lines were sometimes filled with black stucco.
In the central nave, the first of the five panels was created by Giovanni di Stefano in 1488 and reminds all entering that the cathedral is a “temple of the Virgin Mary” and we must act as such. After, we see a panel entitled The She-Wolf of Siena from 1373 depicting Siena and its allies: the hare of Pisa, the lion of Florence, the horse of Arezzo, the panther of Lucca, the unicorn of Viterbo, the goose of Orvieto, the elephant of Rome and the stork of Perugia of which is the only mosaic that can be found in the cathedral. Next is Aquila Imperiale which is a wheel made of columns with the imperial eagle in the center. This is significant to Siena, although an unusual symbol to find in a church, because the eagle represents the Holy Roman Empire in which Siena was loyal to (as it was a Ghibelline city) in the Middle Ages. The fourth panel in the nave is an allegory of the Hill of Virtue designed by Pinturicchio in 1504, which through the personification of the balancing Fortune and the knowledge-giving Wisdom symbolizes the difficulties of life and the benefits of taking the harsh road to wisdom. The final panel in this part of the cathedral, and potentially the first panel to be laid, is the Wheel of Fortune from 1372 depicted with eight columns, a throne on the top and four philosophers. This particular panel represents the changes of human affairs.
On the main part of the floor we finally see religious subjects. It is covered mostly with stories from the Old Testament, with the exception of the Slaughter of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni, which comes from the Gospel. Under the dome, Domenico di Pace (il Beccafumi) is credited for the panels telling the stories of Elijah such as the Elijah’s Pact with Ahab, the Sacrifice of Baal and His Priests, The Sacrifice of Elijah, and the Killing of the Pagan Priests of Baal. He also designed multiple panels closer to the altar with the stories of Moses such as the Revelation on Mount Sinai (created in 1531), Moses Making Striking Water from the Rock (created in 1525) and The Sacrifice of Isaac (created in 1547). Beccafumi is known even today for his talent and success with these panels using the marble intarsia technique, in which pieces of different colored marble are cut into shapes then put together in order to create the illusion of depth. As Beccafumi designed thirty-five out of the 56 panels, the artist became so good at this technique that he was able to achieve the look of chiaroscuro. It is likely, of course, that Beccafumi himself did not piece together each panel alone. Nevertheless a few original drawings by Beccafumi of these panels are preserved in room 31 of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena.
In the left transept one sees four more panels, the first being the Expulsion of Herod by Benvenuto di Giovanni from 1485. Then we finally see Slaughter of the Innocents, which was created by Matteo di Giovanni between 1481 and 1482. This scene is particularly interesting to look at because the artist used many more colors of marble than the scenes nearby. After, there are two panels that were probably designed by Urbano da Cortona (although it is not certain) the Stories from the Life of Judith and Liberation of Bethulia. Both were laid into the floor around 1473. Also in this area of the floor, though not necessarily a panel, is the tombstone of Bishop Giovanni di Bartolomeo Pecci (a bishop from Grosseto). This part of the “floor” was created as a low relief in bronze by Donatello in 1427 and is situated in front of the funeral monument for Riccardo Petroni.
The right transept has a panel of Emperor Sigismund Enthroned with his Ministers, from 1434 by Domenico di Bartolo. The Sienese probably felt that this emperor was more important to them than others because on the way to Rome for his coronation, Emperor Sigismund lived in Siena for ten months. At a closer look, his ministers are holding shields with the imperial eagle on them, which is said to symbolize the emperor taking sides with Siena in the war against Florence. Next are the Death of Absalom from 1447 by Pietro di Tommasso del Minella and The Sacrifice of Jephthah (a controversial story in Christianity). The last panel we see in this part of the cathedral is The Seven Ages of Man by Antonio Federighi.
Finally, on the floor of the chancel (the raised area before the alter which is usually reserved for the clergy or the choir) lies Victory of Joshua by Paolo di Martino, a black and white panel depicting the battle between the Jews and the Amorites. Domenico di Niccolò dei Cori is credited for the stories of David: Story of King David, David and Goliath and David the Psalmist. Also in this we see Victory of Samson over the Philistines by Paolodi Martino. The last two panels are Cardinal Virtues and Mercy, which were both completed in 1406. The four cardinal virtues (principle moral virtues) are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Mercy may have been placed here because some felt that the original four did not cover everything the Christians believe in, and see it as the fifth virtue. The presence of these virtues on the floor of the cathedral could be connected with Siena’s history of striving to remain an independent city-state, as the personification of these virtues can also be found Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Buon Governo fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico.
Personally, the marble floor is my favorite feature of the cathedral of Siena. The fact that forty artists were able to come together throughout two centuries to create panels that matched the style of the cathedral is extraordinary. Also interesting is that the panels not only reflect the values of the church but the rich history of Siena as a Ghibelline city, as well. This makes the cathedral floor truly unique, a one-of-a-kind floor in terms of the talented hands that worked on it as well as the stories it tells.

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