Our advice is to discover one of the most beautiful palaces of Siena and find out why it is so important for the history of the town: Palazzo Buonsignori is located at via San Pietro and was built after 1440 in late Gothic style for the banker Giovanni Bichi Guccio, who sold it in 1459 to Tegliacci, eventually becoming the property of Buonsignori family in 1476 .
Today it is known as the home of the Pinacoteca Nazionale, the museum which houses some of the most representative works of Senese painting of the XIV and XV centuries: Duccio, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sano di Pietro, Giovanni di Paolo, Sassetta, Matteo di Giovanni and Francesco di Giorgio Martini.
Among other artworks must be mentioned the series of bas-reliefs and sculptures called the Loggia Sculpture, some paintings of XVI century by Sodoma and Beccafumi, the Spannocchi – Piccolomini collection, which includes paintings by Albrecht Durer and Lorenzo Lotto. The arrangement of the works within the Gallery may vary based on increasingly detailed studies about Senese painting, so it is not a field on which everything is already known but a path that is enhanced over the years and reveals the artistic evolution of the Senese painters.
A peculiarity of the art gallery is to be located partly at Palazzo Brigidi, the same address of Palazzo Buonsignori. Palazzo Brigidi was built in the XIV century and restored in the XIX century; this building is also known as Palazzo dei Pannocchieschi and is distinguished by the presence of a spiral staircase called “della Pia” in reference to Pia de’ Tolomei, a character which has inspired novels, an opera by Donizetti, a disc by Gianna Nannini and is mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
For opening hours and guided tours visit the official site: www.pinacotecanazionale.siena.it
