Nuova pagina 2

The Museum of the Sinopias is currently housed in a wing of the old Ospedale di Misericordia thttwas built to designs by Giovanni di Simone between 1257 and 1286, before the monumental cemetery. Then it was expanded during the first half of the XIV century along the south side of Piazza del Duomo.

A curious historical episode, that took place on the Tyrrhenian coast in 1241 is closely linked to the construction of this hospital. Some ships that were carrying cardinals to Rome for a conclave the pope had called in order to depose the Emperor Frederick II° were captured by the Ghibelline fleet. Therefore the pope, Gregory IX, excommunicated the entire city; his writ was only revoked when the pisans laid the first stone of the hospital to repent publicly for their grave error.
Although the building was greatly remodelled over the years, and mainly in the XIX century, it is still fascinating. The long, broad, brick and stone façadecompletes the perspective of Piazza dei Miracoli, and comprises

After considerable restorations that have preserved and maintained the building's original structure, the existing museum was inaugurated in 1979. It contains the sinopias from the monumental cemetery.
Sinopias are the preparatory drawings for frescoes done directly on the wall; one of the explanations for the development of this tecnique is the lack of large quantities of paper or other similar materials during the XVI century.
The drawing were done in small size, directly onto the next to the last coat of plaster called "arricciato". The artists used a brush dipped into a red-earth pigment (actually they also used greenish yellow pigments and charcoal) from Sinope, a city in Asia Minor, and hence the name "sinopia". These drawing were then covered with a layer of rough and fine sand called "grassello" onto which the colors were applied. When the work was complete sinopias, evedently were permanently hidden. They became visible following a tragic event. During War II, an incendiary bomb explosed on the Campo on the night of 27 July 1944.

The ensuing fire destroyed most of the frescoes; the few that remained were in such poor condition that they had to be removed for restoration. As they were being taken off, the lovely preliminary drawings once again saw the light. Now, using the same techniques applied in fresco restoration, the sinopias are fixed onto eternit slabs and are displayed in a separate gallery.