Siena cathedral

The three-part western front of the Siena cathedral corresponds to the three-aisled structure of the nave, but the outline and axes do not communicate with the disposition inside.

For the first time in Italy, Giovanni Pisano adopted the ideas of Gothic architecture from north-west Europe from 1282 onwards. Even if the figurative decoration is not concentrated in the zone of the draped portal, but in the floors above: the rich program of figures and its integration into the architecture would be unthinkable without the model of the French cathedral Gothic. The varied use of different types of marble, on the other hand, is a distinctly regional idiosyncrasy. The closely comparable facade of the Cathedral of Orvieto was created at almost the same time.