Siena's Controversial Plan to Complete the Unfinished Duomo with Edoardo Tresoldi's Wire Mesh Installation

The municipality of Siena is considering commissioning artist Edoardo Tresoldi to create a €2 million wire mesh reconstruction of the 'Duomo Nuovo,' a colossal 14th-century cathedral project left incomplete due to plague and economic crises. The proposed installation would be placed in Piazza Jacopo della Quercia, originally intended as the nave of the never-finished mega-cathedral. The project has sparked debate, with opposition raising concerns about costs. A preliminary 3D model has been approved, and a €150,000 feasibility study by Sub Divo Srl is underway. The city aims to complete the installation by March 2023 as part of a post-pandemic tourism revival plan, but funding depends on private sponsors. Tresoldi, born in Milan in 1987, is known for his large-scale wire mesh works, notably his 2016 reconstruction of the Basilica of Siponto. The current Duomo of Siena would have become the transept of the planned cathedral, of which only the 'facciatone' remains as a viewpoint.