Care of the Sick

Care of the Sick

This is without doubt one of the most renowned frescoes among those painted on the walls of the Pellegrinaio, where the hand of Domenico di Bartolo indulges—with extraordinary attention to detail and a richness reminiscent of Flemish influence—in a narrative that faithfully portrays the hospital setting. The scene unfolds in a large longitudinal space, covered by a beamed ceiling supported by large corbels. Near the center, above the keystone of the arch, are the coats of arms of the Capitano del Popolo, the Balzana (the black-and-white emblem of Siena), and that of Carlo d’Agnolino Bartoli, rector of Santa Maria and later bishop of the city. This detail has allowed scholars to confidently identify the setting as the Pellegrinaio, built in 1378, whose wooden ceiling was constructed during Bartoli’s rectorship. At the far right of the fresco, two attendants—distinguished by age and clothing details—are carrying a stretcher draped with a cloth bearing the symbols of the Scala. Behind them, a dying man is seen lying in bed, his head bandaged. A large Augustinian friar leans over the patient, likely hearing his confession. The central group features, in the foreground, a man wearing only a loincloth, with a large bleeding wound on his right thigh; one foot is soaking in a copper basin, while the other is being dried by a hospital friar. Near the center of the scene stands a cerusico (a surgeon-physician), next to whom is the rector. Below, an orderly is laying a person onto a stretcher. In its extraordinary detail, the scene offers a vivid snapshot of medical care within the hospital.