Siena Cathedral
Giovanni Pisano; Sienese workshops · Siena, Italy · 1263
Siena Cathedral is a dramatic synthesis of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, set on a high platform within the city's sloping fabric. Alternating bands of dark and light marble organize the interior and campanile, while Giovanni Pisano's sculptural façade dissolves into pinnacles, gables and figures. The hexagonal dome, pulpit and extraordinary inlaid marble pavement make the interior as spatially rich as the exterior. An ambitious fourteenth-century enlargement was abandoned after plague and structural problems, leaving the Facciatone as evidence of an unrealized larger church. The date marks completion of the main medieval body before later façade and interior campaigns.