Audio tour # 08 - The Count Room

Leaving rooms 6 and 7, in this noble room we find a suggestive environment that reproduces the private study of Count Niccolò III.

The ceiling is coffered and painted, dating back to 1465 on the occasion of the marriage between Niccolò III and Elena.

On the walls, at the top, you can admire refined fifteenth-century frescoes with typical decorations and round windows depicting illustrious men of the Orsini family. Furthermore, to the left of the entrance, in the top center, Totila is symbolically depicted as the "scourge of God", to represent the value and courage of Nicholas III.

The statue in the center of the room represents Niccolò III, with his armor. It is a 16th century sculpture, in poplar wood. The work was donated by Venice to the Superintendency of Siena and is owned by the Italian State, kindly granted to our Museum.

On the wall opposite the entrance there is a tabernacle from the Ancient Cathedral of San Pietro in Sovana. The work dates back to the sixteenth century. The refined frame is in marble carved in bas-relief and bears the coat of arms of Bishop Tommaso Piccolomini from the second half of the fifteenth century (1467-1470).

The small door is a rare and particularly refined piece, in copper, silver and chiseled gold. The manufacture is of Florentine goldsmithery and depicts the dead Christ, adored by angels and surrounded by the symbols of the Passion. The cross and the crown of thorns emerge, the kiss of Judas, Saint Peter drawing the sword, Pilate washing his hands, the column with the scourges, the hand of the slap. In addition, the dice to draw the clothes, the sun and the moon of the eclipse, the sponge on the barrel, the spear that pierces the side and the ladder for deposition from the Cross emerge.