Resumen de New Documents for Sassetta and Sano di Pietro at the Porta Romana, Siena
The history of the Coronation of the Virgin fresco on the Porta Romana in Siena (Fig. 1) is well known and well documented. In 1416 the city council asked Taddeo di Bartolo to paint a representation of the Madonna on the gate, but he seems not to have embarked on the commission by the time of his death in 1422. New life was breathed into the enterprise in 1442, and in 1447 Sassetta began the work. By the time he died in 1450, he had executed the angel choirs in the vault and had completed the design for the rest of the composition. His place was taken in 1459 by Sano di Pietro, who finished the Coronation of the Virgin almost a decade later. Over subsequent centuries the fresco was much damaged by exposure to the elements and finally by allied bombing in 1944; it has been restored several times.' Only the angels in the vault are fairly well preserved, while the Coronation itself has almost disappeared. In the 1970s the much-damaged fresco was detached and placed on the inner facade of the church of S. Francesco. On that occasion the technique was studied closely: traces of spolvero were found in the angel choirs in the vault, while sinopie were exposed under the Coronation (Figs.2 and 6). The purpose of this article is to publish some new documents (see the Appendix below), which expand our knowledge of the genesis of the fresco and its makers and provide fascinating information about the early use of cartoons.
