The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Interpretation and Analysis)

Effects of Good Government in the City 

Source: Google Cultural Institute

Today, I want to continue the discussion of the ideal city in art that we began yesterday. To do this, I want to talk about one of the great masterpieces of Italian art: The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, a series of frescos depicting the effects of government on the city and countryside. Each set of frescos depict a city under either good or bad governments. The allegorical figures of Peace, Fortitude, Prudence, Magnanimity, Temperance, and Justice reign over the “good city,” while Cruelty, Deceit, Fraud, Fury, Division, War, and Tyranny hold sway over the “bad city.”
These frescos are interesting for a number of different reasons. They’re painted on the walls of Siena’s town hall, and they are a good example of transitions art as Europe began to move from the Medieval to the Renaissance period. There are elements of Renaissance art here, especially in the increased awareness of perspective and scale, which was mostly absent in Medieval art. However, the frescos do not display the Renaissance obsession with accurately portraying three dimensional space or an interest in the idealized human form.

However, I think the subject matter itself is more notable. As in Vermeer’s View of Delft, Lorenzetti uses these paintings to explore how humans should behave in the world. In the good government frescos, Lorenzetti equates the bustling, well ordered city with good morals: wisdom, justice, peace, etc. The idea is that a well governed and orderly city is inherently virtuous.

The figure of Peace in Allegory of Good Government
Source: Wikipedia

The key word here is order. Medieval thought centered around the concept of the Great Chain of Being, the idea that every living and non-living thing had a place and role in the world, with God at the top and inanimate objects near the bottom. Under this system of thought, challenging your place in the world was inherently wrong because the Great Chain of Being maintained a state of equilibrium in the world. In a Medieval world that was plagued by violence and disease, the knowledge that one had a predefined place in the world was a way to create meaning and make sense of the chaos. The Allegory of Good and Bad Government both reinforces and reflects this way of thinking. In the scenes depicting bad government we see that inappropriate actions at the top rungs of society flow down the ladder to spread destruction among the populace. In the scenes of government the opposite is true. These frescos are full of merchants and laborers working industriously, implying that good government breeds harding-working and virtuous citizens.

However, there are also glimmers of Renaissance thought here. During the Renaissance there was increased differentiation between secular power and the spiritual authority of the church. Renaissance thinkers embraced Humanist ideas, and some of those ideas are visible in these frescos. It is notable that God is not depicted anywhere in the frescos. Instead, personifications of civic virtues reign supreme.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.