Description
This fresco in Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico portrays the handing over of a fortified settlement to a representative of the city. It is commonly linked to Giuncarico’s submission in 1314, although the identification remains debated. Two figures at the left face a hilltop settlement protected by a wooden palisade. The work has been attributed to Duccio, but its authorship is disputed. Rediscovered during twentieth-century restoration, the fresco still bears traces of a large revolving world map that once occupied the same wall.
Instead of recounting a religious episode, the image appears to commemorate an event in Siena’s territorial history. It is conventionally known as the surrender of Giuncarico, although neither the identification of the town nor the precise nature of the event is beyond dispute. Distinct buildings, red-tiled roofs, a tower, a bell tower and layered wooden enclosures spread across the rocky height.
