INFORMATION
This section is devoted to tools for analytical research, consisting in a historical archive, a library and a photographic library.
The page also hosts all of the publications produced directly by the Opera della Metropolitana to further scholarship and research into the monumental complex in its entirety, including the Cathedral, the Crypt, the Baptistry, the Museum and all of the invaluable historic, cultural and artistic treasures entrusted to its care.
Historical Archive
L’Archivio Storico, appena ristrutturato, conserva la documentazione prodotta dall’Opera della Metropolitana nel corso delle sue varie attività: l’edificazione della Cattedrale, l’estrazione marmo e lo sfruttamento del territorio, la gestione dei beni immobili, la contabilità, le forniture di materie prime e altro ancora. Il fondo storico è quindi di fondamentale importanza per la storia del patrimonio artistico-architettonico della città di Siena, e non solo, poiché custodisce al suo interno la documentazione relativa alla Fabbrica della Cattedrale e a tutti gli affari gestiti dalla Fabbriceria senese, già a partire dai primi anni del XIII secolo. Il documento più antico custodito è un atto notarile datato maggio 1085; vi troviamo poi un importante fondo musicale, costituito da una notevole quantità di partiture di musica sacra e una preziosa collezione di libri corali. The archive benefits from a specific analytical tool entitled L’archivio dell’Opera della Metropolitana di Siena, an inventory edited by S. MOSCADELLI, Munich Bruckmann, 1995 (Die Kirchen von Siena. Beiheft, 1).
Openings to the public of the Historical Archive
The archive is open to the public from 09.00 am to 1.00 pmand from 1.30 pm to 04.30 pm from Monday to Thursday.
The archive will be closed from 15 to 22 July 2025 and from 13 to 22 August 2025. From 15 to 26 September, access to the study room will be possible only by appointment, in the afternoon.
To make the most of our service offering research guidelines, we strongy advise you to make an appointment with a member of the archive’s staff by writing to archivio@operaduomo.siena.it or by calling us on +39 0577 283048 (extension 5).
The entire catalogue of the musical fund of the Opera della Metropolitana di Siena is available online on the RISM platform
Library
The current library was formed chiefly in the early years of this century on the basis of the Enzo Carli Collection which that celebrated Sienese and Pisan art historian’s children donated to the Opera della Metropolitana in September 2000. The body of the collection consists in specialist works on the history of Siena and its Cathedral and on Sienese art, in particular of the medieval and Gothic periods, as well as a considerable number of monographs on artists of the most recent avant-garde movements and a large selection of texts on art criticism and on iconography. The collection comprises some 12,000 titlesand is complemented by a photographic library containing roughly 11,000 black-and-white prints depicting works of art from many different areas and eras. In its determination to maximise its documentary collections’ potential and to promote the public’s acquaintaince with them, the Opera della Metropolitana has subscribed to the Servizio Bibliotecario Senese (SBS), the Sienese Library Service:
Openings to the public of the Library
The library is open to the publicfrom 9.00 am to 1.00 pm Monday, Thursday and Friday andfrom 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Tuesday and Wednesday.
To make the most of our service offering research guidelines we strongy advise you to make an appointment with a member of the library’s staff by writing to biblioteca@operaduomo.siena.it or by calling us on +39 0577 283048 (extension 6)
Photographic Library
The Opera della Metropolitana’s collection of photographs relating to the works of art in its ownership consists chiefly in black-and-white or colour photographs on paper. The collection also includes a digital image section. For reproduction rights, please write to verdoliva@operaduomo.siena.it or call us on +39 0577 283048
Openings to the public of the Photographic Library
The Photographic Library may be consulted from Monday to Friday by prior arrangement only.
For further information please write to biblioteca@operaduomo.siena.it or call us on +39 0577 530032 (extension 6).
