Pienza

Recently Pienza has undoubtedly been amongst the most visited and appreciated centres around Siena. It has thus overturned its century old tradition of a solitary city, the peculiar expression of a humanistic dream never fully realized, still admirably complete in itself, in its fantastic geographic location, in a dominant position overlooking the hills of the Val d’Orcia and enclosed by the majestic curtain of the Monte Amiata.

The extremely delicate urban texture of Pius II’s city is certainly running many risks because of mass tourism. One of these is that it loses its natural features. Pienza is taking on that exterior look that the metropolitan tourist expects a “marginal” community to have retained. Shops sprout up from what appears to be an ever more rarefied and specialized productive base. There are too many antiquarian and herbalist shops for a city that lived off the products of an agricultural and pastoral hinterland. Crowds gather full of curiosity around products that can only be called pientine in that they are sold in Pienza.

Thus the image of the city is a distorted one; and yet one should not forget that the constant flow of visitors has checked the inevitable degradation that Pienza would otherwise have suffered through the abandonment of its inhabitants. The local administration with great foresight has not allowed modern buildings to interfere with the old town. It is not by chance that UNESCO has declared this city in the Val d’Orcia to be one of their protected centres, together with a number of other prestigious towns. Pienza has thus been rightfully acknowledged for its artistic heritage bound to one of the most interesting and important figures of the Italian Renaissance. And yet it is not easy to speak about Pienza: it’s tempting and up to a point even justifiable to simply celebrate its architectural and artistic beauty; it is dangerous to let oneself be too attracted by a variegated tradition that validates everything and takes everything for granted. One can lose oneself in front of rhetoric and not understand the subtle meaning of the Pientine creation, the essence of wisdom and art, a figurative culture that has been able to combine Florentine form with Sienese spirit producing an unrepeatable work of art and that we can truly appreciate through the words of someone who really knows this city.

This is in fact the case of Marco Pierini, a young scholar who has not been overcome by the scientific rigor of the Università degli Studi in Siena and whose work has always shown his passion for the visual aspect of art similarly to his teacher, the indefatigable Enzo Carli, Soprintendente, art historian, researcher, whose bibliography proves his dedication to the history of Siena and of Pienza.

Marco Pierini’s work is rich in information and observation that really help us to better understand and appreciate what we see. And even though his book is very informative it is never pedantic because he very cleverly adds a personal touch to the information.

We are sure that Marco Pierini’s contribution to the rich bibliography that has grown around this beautiful little Tuscan town will soon earn a reputation for its unmistakable quality.