Opera Duomo Museum

The significant collection of Sienese statues from the façade of the Cathedral is on display on the ground floor of the Opera Duomo Museum. Some of the attractions of this part include Pisano's magnificent marble statues of ancient Sibyls, Prophets, and Philosophers, Jacopo della Quercia's Madonna Enthroned with Child and Cardinal Casini, and Donatello's Madonna and Child. The huge stained glass window, which depicts three stories of the Virgin, the Evangelists, and the four patron saints of Siena—Bartolomeo, Crescenzio, Savino, and Sant'Ansano —is another noteworthy attraction.

The major attraction on the first level of the museum is an outstanding altarpiece by Duccio di Buoninsegna that showcases Italian pictorial art from the early fourteenth century. Given that the picture features more than forty figures in the front face and almost eighty in the rear, predelle, and crowning storylines, it is one of the largest artistic achievements in history. Saints and angels are shown in the front section, together with the seated Madonna, while the Passion of Christ is shown at the back, divided into twenty-six scenes. A remarkable collection of wooden sculptures and illuminated codices and a panel by Pietro Lorenzetti showing the Nativity of the Virgin are other highlights of this floor.

The Sala del Tesoro, or Treasure Room, of the Opera del Duomo Museum Florence houses over 200 precious liturgical artefacts. It also includes chalices and reliquaries, including enamels made by Goro di ser Neroccio and St. John's Reliquary of the Arm commissioned by Pius II to Francis of Anthony in 1466. The liturgical service of the Madonna del Voto chapel made of rock crystal set on a silver basis and embellished with translucent enamels is another attraction of this section. The furniture and gold rose, both from the mid-seventeenth century, are goldsmith art masterpieces exhibiting remarkable excellent carving and decorative techniques.

The Cathedral's exceptional collection of religious-themed paintings on canvas and wood, dating from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries, is mostly displayed in three rooms on the top floor of Opera del Duomo Museum Florence. The Madonna degli Occhi Grossi, one of the earliest artworks from the Sienese school, is on display in the first room, as well as a picture representing the Sienese people praying on the eve of the Battle of Montaperti to hand over the city to the Virgin. The two huge tables of the mid 15th century by Sano di Pietro depicting the Sermons of San Bernardino and the painting Madonna dell'Umiltà e santi by Gregorio di Cecco are other remarkable pieces.

The second room on the top floor of the Opera Duomo Museum, called Alfieri, exhibits the stunning altarpieces by Matteo di Giovanni. These include the Madonna enthroned with St. Bernardino and St. Anthony from the Baptistery and the Madonna enthroned with angels and four saints from the Celsi altar. The table made by Domenico Beccafumi in 1516 featuring St. Paul Enthroned is one of the most original art pieces in the section. While his beautiful polychrome terracotta pair of the Announced Virgin and the Announcing Angel made around 1545 are other attractions that add to the beauty of the room.

The Sala degli Arazzi is the last room on the top floor of the Opera Duomo Museum that displays the large intact designs created by the painters Alessandro Franchi and Luigi Mussini for the Duomo facade's mosaics of the cusps in 1878. It depicts the magnificent techniques of nineteenth-century artworks as well as a 17th-century wall. Other highlights of this area include the Cathedral's textile collection displayed along the walls and the exquisite Casula in Lucca jasper displayed in the centre of the space.