Frescoes of the Piccolomini Library

With only two days in Siena Italy, I felt I had to make the most of every minute even though I was jet-lagged from the overnight flight. Since the highlight of many towns is the cathedral, I headed there first. Siena’s cathedral dates from the 13th century. It has one of the most extravagant facades in all Europe, and straddles the boundary of the Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture. Inside there are elaborate inlaid marble floors, a forest of striped marble columns, a coffered dome, stained glass windows and colorful art. As if that weren’t enough, there is a room off the side of the nave called the Piccolomini Library. It’s been described as a treasure within a treasure, and rightly so! Despite the fog and fatigue of jet lag, I felt energized by the bright room and its vivid colors. These Renaissance-era frescoes were painted between 1502 and 1507 and never restored! Their colors are said to be as brilliant now as they were when they were painted over half a millennium ago. Imagine the excitement these frescoes caused during the early Renaissance! The frescoes relate the story of the life of Siena's favorite son, cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405-1464), who eventually became Pope Pius II. The various panels depict ten remarkable events from the secular and religious career of pope Pius II: as ambassador to European courts, paying homage to the new Emperor and then to the ailing Pope, becoming a bishop, a cardinal and ultimately pope. Pius II was the uncle of cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini (the future pope Pius III), who commissioned this library in 1492 as a repository of the books and the manuscript collection of his uncle.