Le Retour des Noveschi à Sienne

Guidoccio Cozzarelli's Le Retour des Noveschi à Sienne (Return of the Noveschi to Siena), painted around 1488 and now in the State Archives of Siena, is an exceptional work that depicts a historical event in Sienese civic history — the return of the Noveschi faction, one of Siena's ruling merchant families who had been exiled and then allowed to return. As a painting preserved in the State Archives rather than a church or gallery, this panel occupied an explicitly civic and historical function, recording a significant moment in Sienese political history for institutional memory.

Tempera on panel. The Return composition depicts the processional entry of the exiled citizens returning to Siena through one of the city gates, with the architectural silhouette of the city in the background providing topographic specificity. Figures are shown in contemporary Sienese dress.