After accessing the Museo Civico through the Gothic courtyard of the Palazzo Pubblico, two flights of stairs lead you up to the Sale Monumentali. To the right is the Sala del Mappamondo, formerly used as the meeting room for the General Council of the Republic of Siena and taking its name from a rotating map that showed the lands governed by the city.
On the far wall of the chamber is Simone Martini's real masterpiece: the Maest□ (1312-1315), the iconic representation of the enthroned Madonna with the child still striking today with its delicate use of the chromatic palette and purity of lines.
Visit continues through the magnificent Sala dei Nove, used as a meeting chamber for the town’s Governo dei Nove (government of nine councillors), decorated on 1337 by Ambrogio Lorenzetti with a cycle of frescoes known as the Allegory of Good and Bad Government. The largest secular painting cycle of the Middle Ages, this work is a political manifesto in which the painter has depicted two opposing methods of government along with their consequences. ( (To the left of the Sala del Mappamondo is located the Anticappella, once used as an antechamber of offices for the Concistoro (Parish Assembly). Decorated on 1415 by Taddeo di Bartolo with a cycle of frescoes depicting The Virtues of Gods and Illustrious Men, is enclosed by a fine 15th century railing designed by Jacopo della Quercia.
The adjacent passageway (Sala dei Cardinali) that leads to the Sala del Concistoro, is ornated by an internal doorway in marble by Bernardo Rossellino, brightly colored frescoes on the ceiling by Domenico Beccafumi with themes relating to justice and patriotic devotion. Next to the Sala del Concistoro is the Sala di Balia or Sala dei Priori, where you can admire frescoes by Spinello Aretino (1407) illustrating the Life of Pope Alexander III. (The Sala del Risorgimento, known also as the Sala di Vittorio Emanuele II, was inaugurated in 1890. The walls are decorated with frescoes of episodes from the Unification of Italy, painted by late 19th century Sienese artists.
Towards the end of the visit, enjoy the view over the southern parts of Siena from the large loggia on the upper floor.