Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government on the City Life

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Allegory of Bad Government, painted in 1338-1339 on the walls of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico, is one of the most remarkable secular fresco cycles of the entire Middle Ages. Commissioned by the Council of Nine who governed the Sienese Republic, it forms part of a program showing the contrasting effects of good and bad rule on city and countryside. The tyrannical figure at the center, surrounded by vices, represents the antithesis of the Common Good depicted on the opposite wall, making this a pioneering work of political art.

Executed in fresco on the council chamber wall, the composition deploys an innovative panoramic cityscape showing urban decay and violence under tyranny. Lorenzetti's use of atmospheric perspective and detailed architectural rendering was revolutionary for its time, anticipating developments that would not become standard for another century.