Porta Romana is one of the portals in the medieval Walls of Siena. It is located on Via Cassia in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, region of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, Italy. The gate exits near the

Basilica of San Clemente The Basilica of Saint Clement ( it, Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano) is a Latin Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I located in Rome, Italy. Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) ...

and leads south out of town to Via Enea Silvio Piccolomini.

History

The gate was built in 1327-1328 by

Agnolo di Ventura Agnolo may refer to: * Gabriele Agnolo, an Italian architect * Agnolo (given name), an Italian masculine given name See also * Agnoli Agnoli is an Italian surname A name in the Italian language consists of a given name ( it, nome), and a sur ...

Artistic Guide to Siena and Its Environs
Societa Editrice Fiorentina, Florence (1908), page 28. and Agostino di Giovanni, and has a

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

roofline with machicolation in front gate. The gate is complex, with two separate portals, separated by a small inner court, with the inner gatehouse taller than the outer one. The large arches are faced with travertine marble. The courtyard is surrounded by arrowslits. It was likely that the gate doors could be opened sequentially. The outer portal has a round bas-relief with the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

''IHS'' Christogram inside a sun symbol (

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

Christogram). In 1417,

Taddeo di Bartolo Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1363 – 26 August 1422), also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's biographies of artists or ''Vite''. Vas ...

was commissioned to paint the ''Madonna'' icon on the inner portal, dedicated to the protection of the city. The painting was further retouched by

Sassetta ''For the village near Livorno, see Sassetta, Tuscany'' Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo, known as il Sassetta (ca.1392–1450 or 1451) was an Tuscan painter of the Renaissance, and a significant figure of the Sienese School.Judy Metro, ''Italia ...

and later

Sano di Pietro Sano di Pietro or Ansano di Pietro di Mencio (1405–1481) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school of painting. He was active for about half a century during the Quattrocento period, and his contemporaries included Giovanni di Paolo and S ...

who completed it in 1466. The painting depicted a ''Glory of Angels'' in lower arches, and a ''Coronation of the Virgin'' in the central arch. Due to the state of decay, the remaining fresco was transferred in 1978 to the Basilica of San Francesco, Siena.

Bibliography

*''Toscana. Guida d'Italia'' (Guida rossa), Touring Club Italiano, Milano 2003.
Fonte: scheda nei "Luoghi della Fede", Regione Toscana
{{Authority control Romana Buildings and structures completed in 1328