Sometimes it is just about faith and luck. What are the chances of a future Pope and Patron being born in your city? And what are the chances of that Pope then deciding to elevate his hometown from just a small village to an example of the ideal Renaissance town? Very few, right?
This is what happened to Corsignano, after Enea Silvio Piccolomini became Pope and decided to apply the humanist urban planning concepts to his birthplace and to rename the city after himself, Pienza.
Pienza is situated among the green and soft hills of Val d’Orcia in Tuscany, not far from Siena, and it owes its popularity to Pope Pius II and his passion for the values and the concepts of Renaissance. Values that were highly taken in consideration during the rebuilding of the city: the human was back at the centre of life thus a new architectural style had to come along with it. The Pienza experience was then the blueprint other Patrons and artists would follow in the following years.
The trapezoidal square is probably the most relevant work, but all the building that were built along with it are as well impressive and important; Piccolomini Palace, the Borgia Palace (or Episcopal Palace), the Presbytery, the Town Hall, and the Ammannati Palace are all Renaissance masterpieces.
The author
Federico Spadoni
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