Lot Essay
A single tile from the Piccolomini Library floor was sold in The Collection of Giovanni and Gabriella Barilla, sale Sotheby's London, 14 March 2012, lot 282.
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THE SIENA TILES CIRCA 1495-97, THE SQUARE TILE 16TH CENTURY
Details
FIFTEEN SIENA MAIOLICA TRIANGULAR ARMORIAL FLOOR-TILES AND ANOTHER SQUARE ARMORIAL FLOOR-TILE
THE SIENA TILES CIRCA 1495-97, THE SQUARE TILE 16TH CENTURY
The centres of the triangular tiles painted azure a crescent for the Piccolomini family, within interlocking cable pattern borders; the other with a coat-of-arms below a Cardinal's hat
The triangular tiles 5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) high; the square tile 4 7/16 x 4 5/8 in. (11.6 cm. x 11.8 cm.) (16)
THE SIENA TILES CIRCA 1495-97, THE SQUARE TILE 16TH CENTURY
The centres of the triangular tiles painted azure a crescent for the Piccolomini family, within interlocking cable pattern borders; the other with a coat-of-arms below a Cardinal's hat
The triangular tiles 5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) high; the square tile 4 7/16 x 4 5/8 in. (11.6 cm. x 11.8 cm.) (16)
Provenance
The fifteen Siena tiles are from a pavement in the Piccolomini Library of Siena Cathedral. There is no documentary evidence as to whether the tiles were laid in the floor in the first phase of the room fitting between 1495 and 1497, or whether it was laid after the frescoes were completed in 1507.