The Allegory of Good and Bad Government

The Allegory of Good and Bad Government
Italian: Allegoria ed effetti del Buono e del Cattivo Governo
Detail of Allegory of Good Government
ArtistAmbrogio Lorenzetti
Year1338
MediumFresco
MovementGothic art, Sienese School
SubjectAllegorical depictions of good and bad government
Dimensions7.7 x 14.4m (room)[1]
LocationPalazzo Pubblico, Siena
OwnerFondazione Musei Senesi
The Bad Government on the left; The Good Government in the center

The Allegory of Good and Bad Government is a series of three fresco panels painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti between February 1338 and May 1339. The paintings are located in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico—specifically in the Sala dei Nove ("Salon of Nine"), the council hall of the Republic of Siena's nine executive magistrates,[2] elected officials who performed executive functions (and judicial ones in secular matters). The paintings have been construed as being "designed to remind the Nine [magistrates] of just how much was at stake as they made their decisions".[3]

Considered Lorenzetti's "undisputed masterpiece",[4] the series consists of six different scenes (the titles are all modern conveniences):

  • Allegory of Good Government
  • Allegory of Bad Government
  • Effects of Bad Government in the City
  • Effects of Bad Government in the Country
  • Effects of Good Government in the City
  • Effects of Good Government in the Country
  1. ^ Beth Harris; Steven Zucker (9 December 2015). "Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Palazzo Pubblico frescos: Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government". Smarthistory. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  2. ^ Polzer, Joseph (2002). "Ambrogio Lorenzetti's "War and Peace" Murals Revisited; Contributions to the Meaning of the Good Government Allegory"". Artibus et Historiae. 45. 23 (45): 64. doi:10.2307/1483682. JSTOR 1483682.
  3. ^ Ferguson, Niall (2017). The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook. Penguin Press. pp. 425–431. ISBN 978-0735222915.
  4. ^ "Effects of Good Government in the city". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 28 January 2018.