Dome

Council Chamber, fresco of the Maestà; The plain façade of the neighbouring Palazzo del Popolo (1288), to which belongs the Torre Grossa (1311; h. 54 m), belies its former splendour, since it was once inlaid with glazed terracotta arms of successive Podestà. The Sienese painter Memmo di Filippuccio was master of the town's earliest documented workshop (1303-1317). He was, in effect, the official town artist engaged on commissions from the Commune, such as the frescoed Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (Maestà) on the main wall of the Council Chamber in the Palazzo del Popolo. An inscription confirms that this was painted by Memmo's son Lippo Memmi in 1317 and restored by the Florentine Benozzo Gozzoli in 1467. The town's earliest surviving paintings are damaged frescoes of hunting scenes in the Council Chamber, which have been attributed to Azzo of Siena ( fl 1288-1292), who was paid for paintings in the Council Room in 1291. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 7/17/2008)