Writes of a medieval tuscan Courtoroom. A short guide to the iscriptions of pictorial cycle of Illustrious Men in Lucignano, Tuscany

In the course of the XIV century, the city of Lucignano, and its surrounding territory, were object of bitter contention between the cities of Siena, Arezzo and Perugia, until they finally became subject to the domain of Siena in 1390 up to mid-XVI century. During the fifteenth century, a period of peace and prosperity for the city, the room was frescoed with images of illustrious men, a symbol of “buon governo”, and captions aimed at honouring the main function of city; this room welcomes the application of fair justice and honest administration. The pictorial cycle of Lucignano is composed of murals and inscriptions commissioned by clerks and notaries between 1414 and 1475 who carried out their work for the municipality. The “uomini illustri” depicted here are very often accompanied by captions chosen to bring out the concept of justice and “buon governo”, taken from Dante’s Divina Commedia, the Bible, classics, and medieval philosophy, many times followed by the name of the clerk commissioned. The notaries, who worked as clerks for the municipality, are identified from documentation at the Public Records Office in Siena where the list of county officers between 1399 and 1522 is preserved in the archives of the General Council. This list contains the names of the clerks sent to Lucignano who wanted to leave testimony of their presence through images, mottos and signatures.