St Domenico in Siena 4 - 1930

Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer made this pencil drawing of St Domenico in Siena. The Dominican Order was a powerful religious organisation in the medieval period. It held significant sway over the cultural and intellectual life of Siena. Churches like St. Domenico were therefore important sites for the negotiation of social power. The church is rendered here with precise lines. This suggests an interest in architectural detail and a rational approach to understanding the built environment. Germany, where Hessemer was from, did not become a fully unified nation state until 1871. Before that the country was a collection of smaller states. This perhaps explains the German artists’ interest in Italy, which may have seemed by contrast to be the home of cultural and political unity. To find out more about this drawing, look to biographies of the artist, histories of the Dominican order, and of church architecture. These kinds of resources help us understand how the drawing is an artwork rooted in its specific time and place.