Palazzo Chigi Piccolomini alla Postierla
Sixteenth-century palace in Siena with frescoed salons and seventeenth-century paintings, serving as the seat of the Musei Nazionali di Siena while the Pinacoteca is closed.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The sixteenth-century palace stands a few steps from Piazza del Duomo. Its façades have rusticated sandstone frames bearing the Chigi della Rovere coats of arms, while the portal shows the coat of arms of the Piccolomini family, who acquired the building at the end of the eighteenth century. The construction, based on a design attributed to Bartolomeo Neroni, known as Riccio, was commissioned by Scipione Chigi, an important Sienese statesman and ambassador of the Republic in 1554–1555.
The rooms extend over two noble floors, arranged by Scipione so that his sons Cristofano and Camillo would have separate apartments, and are decorated with stuccoes and frescoes begun in 1573. In the first-floor salone, the frescoes by Bernard van Rantwijck depict stories and figures from the Old Testament, Sibyls and grotesques; the side rooms contain stuccoes by Marcello Sparzo. On the second floor, frescoes and stuccoes by the same artists illustrate the stories of Furius Camillus, while the canvases in the salone, by Dirck de Quade van Ravensteyn, tell the stories of Scipio Africanus.
The two salons and the nearby rooms display seventeenth-century masterpieces by Rutilio Manetti, Bernardino Mei and Raffaello Vanni. The palace also houses the administrative offices of the Pinacoteca Nazionale, together with its archive and library. Since the beginning of 2026, while the Pinacoteca is closed for works funded by the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), it has been the visitable venue of the Musei Nazionali di Siena.
Highlights
- Frescoed salons by Bernard van Rantwijck
- Stuccoes by Marcello Sparzo
- Stories of Scipio Africanus by Dirck de Quade van Ravensteyn
- Seventeenth-century paintings by Rutilio Manetti, Bernardino Mei and Raffaello Vanni
Permanent exhibition
- Saloni nobili con dipinti seicenteschi – Two frescoed salons and nearby rooms with masterpieces of seventeenth-century Sienese painting by Rutilio Manetti, Bernardino Mei and Raffaello Vanni.
- Founded
- 2015
- Operated by
- Musei Nazionali di Siena – Ministero della Cultura
- Visitors per year
- approx. 3,994
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €4 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €2 |
Payment by card terminal (POS) only. Reductions and free admission follow the rules applicable to state museums.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible: not available
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The venue is not accessible to people with disabilities. For information on access to the museum spaces, you can write to mn-si.comunicazione@cultura.gov.it.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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