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SAN GIMIGNANO

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 150 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SAN GIMIGNANO , a See also:town of See also:Tuscany, See also:Italy, in the See also:province of See also:Siena, 24 M. N.W. of Siena, at an See also:elevation of Io89 ft. Pop. (19or) 4060 (town); 1o,o66 (See also:commune). Being surrounded by its See also:ancient walls, and retaining thirteen out of its See also:original fifty towers, it is, with its predominantly See also:Gothic See also:architecture, a thoroughly See also:medieval town in See also:appearance. In the See also:council chamber of the town-See also:hall (1288-1323) is a See also:fresco by Lippo Memmi of the Madonna enthroned of 1317, copied closely from the similar fresco (the " Majestas ") by his See also:master See also:Simone di Martino in the Palazzo Pubblico at Siena; there is also a curious frescoed See also:frieze of 1291, with knights in See also:armour. The museum in the same See also:building contains pictures and other See also:objects of See also:art. The See also:tower is the highest in the town (174 ft.), while the Torre dell' Orologio (167 ft.) See also:close by marks the height beyond which private individuals might not build. In the same piazza is the Collegiata (the former See also:cathedral) of the 12th See also:century, enlarged after 1466 by Giuliano da Maiano, whose See also:brother Benedetto erected the See also:chapel of S. Fina from his plans in 1468, and carved the See also:fine See also:marble See also:altar, the original See also:painting and See also:gilding of which are still preserved. The marble See also:ciborium, a small See also:reproduction of the splendid one in S. Domenico at Siena, is also by Benedetto.

The beautiful frescoes with scenes from the See also:

life of the See also:saint (a See also:local saint who died at the See also:age of fifteen) are the earliest See also:work of Domenico Ghirlandaio, completed before 1475. There are also some frescoes of his See also:cousin Bastiano Mainardi (d. 1513). The cathedral contains other 14th-century and See also:early See also:Renaissance paintings, the former including some See also:Passion scenes, the only certain work of Barna da Siena, and some fine See also:choir stalls. S. See also:Agostino (1280-1298) contains a famous See also:series of seventeen frescoes by Benozzo See also:Gozzoli, with scenes from the life of St See also:Augustine (1463-1467). They have been to some extent restored. The altar of S. Bartoldus, by Benedetto da Maiano, is not unlike that in the Collegiata (1494). The town was See also:independent in the 13th century, but in 1353, owing to the dissensions of the Salvucci (Ghibellines) and Ardinghelli (Guelphs), it See also:fell into the hands of See also:Florence. See R. Pantini, San Gimignano e See also:Certaldo (See also:Bergamo, 1905).

End of Article: SAN GIMIGNANO

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