Siena's Lorenzetti frescoes to be viewable up close from scaffolding

A scaffolding platform in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico will allow the public to view Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes of Good and Bad Government up close for the first time. The structure, installed for diagnostic analysis and cleaning, is not a full restoration—the last was in 1983–1986—but a conservation maintenance intervention, similar to one done on Simone Martini's Maestà in 2018. The exact duration remains pending approval from the Soprintendenza. Visitors will be able to examine details of faces, clothing, and activities of 14th-century Sienese citizens, and observe Lorenzetti's brushstrokes and incisions in the plaster. Separately, the article discusses the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, which houses works by Lorenzetti, Martini, and others, including a portrait of Elizabeth I by Quentin Metsys the Younger. The museum's new director, Axel Hémery, faces challenges of poor signage, inconsistent chronological display, inadequate lighting, and overcrowded galleries. The article also highlights the Santa Maria della Scala complex, which hosts the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, fragments of Jacopo della Quercia's Fonte Gaia, the Pellegrinaio fresco cycle, and the recently installed Collezione Piccolomini Spannocchi, featuring works by Lorenzo Lotto, Correggio, Tintoretto, Dürer, Altdorfer, and Rubens, some originally from the Gonzaga collection in Mantua.