Book Cover 1343

This painted wooden book cover was made in Siena, Italy, sometime in the 14th century. The image offers insight into the late medieval world of civic administration. The lower two-thirds of the panel are filled with neatly lettered names and numbers. Above, we see three figures engaged in a process of accounting. At the left, a woman, possibly a nun, counts coins. In the center, a man writes in a ledger while another man at the right reads from a book. Here, the act of reading and writing is less a matter of private contemplation than a form of civic duty. As we ponder the meaning of this image, it is worth remembering that the city of Siena was a republic during the time that this book cover was made. Further research into Sienese history might clarify the identities and roles of the individuals named on this panel. Civic records and guild documents can offer a great deal of information about the institutional context that shaped such images.