Relações de poder e representações sobre a justiça: um estudo comparado do afresco de Ambrogio Lorenzetti e das cartas de Catarina de Siena

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the representations of justice present in the fresco painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, located in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena and completed in 1338, as well as in the letters of Catherine of Siena, addressed to the Tuscan communes from 1375 onwards. The objective is to examine to what extent the notions of justice and the themes developed around it in both works engage in dialogue. The study also considers certain fourteenth-century events in Siena that may have influenced the elaboration of such representations, as well as the biographies of the authors themselves, taking into account the dimension of the power relations in which they were embedded. Both works emphasize Justice, since this element was central to communal life, yet they highlight different aspects of this activity and for distinct reasons: in the fresco, a secular perspective linked to government; in the letters, a perspective associated with spirituality. These representations sought to elicit specific actions from their recipients: in the case of the fresco, the recognition and acceptance of the Government of the Nine; in the case of the letters, support for a specific pope and the avoidance of conflicts with other communes.