Serving Visitor Communities: A Mediated Experience of the Arts

A 50-year-old man was apparently hesitant carrying such a small and expensive computer around in the museum and in particular he was afraid he would not to be able to use it. As soon as he stepped into the Sala del Mappamondo, wearing a headphone and firmly grasping the device, a deep loud voice started speaking, “This is the Sala del Mappamondo one of the most important halls of the whole Palazzo Pubblico. The wonderful frescoes, even the more religious ones, impose themselves as the very first examples of laic art involved in history and contemporary political life.” Just another audio guide, thought the man a little bit relieved about the situation. Yet, when he approached the opposite wall the voice started speaking again, “This is La Maestà, depicted by S. Martini in 1315. The fresco is located in the main part of the hall, the central point that gave the orientation of the Sala del Mappamondo. By contrast, the Guidoriccio fresco, located just behind you, was a sort of ‘poster,’ glorifying the power of the Siena Republic.” The man turned around and the voice continued, “In front of you, you can see the Guidoriccio, it was also painted by S. Martini […].”. The man was amazed; the audio guide seemed to work by itself. Suddenly, he recalled the small computer that he was still firmly grasping. He looked at it and first of all he noticed a small picture of the wall in front of him, all the frescoes were blurred but one: so that one is the Guidoriccio.