Background Information
The idea for this project came from reading and discussing Quentin Skinner's article Ambrogio Lorenzetti: The Artist as Political Philosopher in Proceedings of the British Academy. Skinner's article is a textual analysis of a fresco painted by the Sienese artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the mid-fourteenth century. Painted on the walls of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, the fresco, Skinner contends, was designed to convey political messages "obvious even to the causal viewer." What the causal viewer would have seen in Lorenzetti's day was an unmistakable tribute to the idea of the self-governing republic as it was run by the economic and political elites of the commune. The fresco's main panel is centered on the two principal allegorical figures of Justice and the wise ruler (sapientia). Depicted along with the two principles are other qualities (duly labeled) that include Magnanimity, Peace, Fortitude and Temperance; standing directly beneath them is a collection of merchants, craftsmen, nobles, cavalry on one hand and criminals on the other—each of the groups receives the blessings or punishment of the allegorical figures.
An examination of the fresco with this article in hand, caused me to reflect on the WPA art of the Great Depression and the cultural icons and allegories that are regularly depicted in public buildings across the United States. I thought it might be possible to interpret the fresco and WPA art with reproductions in the classroom and generate a discussion of political and cultural values both in the Renaissance and in twentieth century America. Once I was able to establish the concepts and terms, the class could then turn its attention to primary sources on civic humanism and see if any of those themes recur in the allegory depicted by Lorenzetti.
Once the class had begun to appreciate the connection between civic values and public art, students would work in groups creating their own interpretation of good government for a classroom mural.
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