(A huge Gothic church with Lorenzetti frescoes.)

To get to San Francesco, go down the via dei Rossi, the turning off the Banchi di Sopra opposite the Luisa Spagnoli dress shop.

It is the church of the Franciscans in Siena. The Fransiscans, who had a healthy rivalry with the Domenicans, usually built their churches bigger than anybody else's, and that in Siena is no exception. A vast Gothic redbrick building, largely unadorned - although with the distinctive Sienese tiger stripes on the inside - its chief glory is its series of frescoes by the Lorenzetti brothers.

There is not much to see in the huge bare nave, apart from some fragments of fresco and, on the left of the entrance, a magnificent renaissance doorway by Francesco di Giorgio Martini into which has been inserted what is almost a trompe l'oeil modern painting of Padre Pio.

The frescoes of real interest are in the chapels to the left of the high altar. The chapel immediately on the left (light switch just inside the chapel on the right) contains an intensely tragic crucifixion by Pietro Lorenzetti; even the angels in the sky have tortured faces and attitudes. In the third chapel to the left there are two frescoes by Pietro's brother Ambrogio, unfortunately less well preserved. That on the right shows St Louis of Toulouse taking leave of Pope Boniface VIII, after he had renounced the throne of Sicily in favour of his brother Robert d'Anjou, seen here wearing his new crown and seeming far from pleased with it. That on the left shows Franciscan friars being martyred in Morocco in 1227 while on an ill-fated mission to convert infidels. Note the oriental dress and features of some of those doing the martyring, more suitable to somewhere much further east, but no doubt Lorenzetti had little idea what Moroccans actually looked like. All three frescoes were painted in the first half of the fourteenth century, and introduce an interpretation of character which was new to Sienese painting.

In the end chapel on the far left of the high altar there is a pleasant 14th century fresco of the Virgin and Child, but all except one of the paintings over the altars in the chapels are 19th century works in 14th century style. The exception is in the first chapel to the right of the altar, where there is a genuine 14th century Madonna and Child, unfortunately badly burnt in a fire in 1655.

On the steps to the chapel to the far right of the high altar there are two attractive 15th and 16th century tombstones, and two chapels further on, set high in the left hand wall, there is the fine 15th century sarcophagus of Cristoforo Felici, sculpted by Urbana da Cortona. Opposite the right hand chapels, in the far corner of the transept, there is a door leading into another chapel which contains a frescoed polyptich (Virgin and Child with Saints) by the 14th century Lippo Vanni, unfortunately almost impossible to see because of the poor lighting. On the other side of the church, opposite the chapels with the Lorenzettis, there is a large chapel with good pavement decoration, but frustratingly covered in furniture and barred to visitors.

To the left of the church are no fewer than three cloisters. The first, accessible through a door next to the main entrance to the church, is now occupied by the Faculty of Jurisprudence of Siena University and is open during normal working hours. It was originally Gothic in style (two of the Gothic arches can be seen in the wall in the far corner), but was redone in elegant renaissance style in 1517 by a Piccolomini bishop - the Piccolomini crescent moon appears at the top of each arch. On the left side of the cloister there are steps up to the church with 18 identical crests (rather damaged) of the Tolomei family (another major Sienese family), commemorating 18 Tolomei men who were according to legend treacherously murdered by the rival Salimbeni family.

Revised 2003.

Oratorio San Bernardino

(One of the most delightful museums in Siena, small enough to avoid cultural indigestion and containing a perfect room and a masterwork of Sienese painting. Despite this, it is very little visited.)

In the Piazza San Francesco, to the right of the church. Open 10.30-13.30 and 15.00-17.30, 15 March to 31 October.

The treats start in the entrance hall with its frescoed ceiling - the 16th century central panel shows Siena's two most famous saints, San Bernadino and St Catherine of Siena, standing in front of the city, with the Virgin pushed very much to the periphery.

Upstairs, Room 2 is one of the most harmonious artistic ensembles in Siena. In this intimate room where the monks gathered to pray, everything blends successfully together. Benches for the monks line the sides. There is a beautiful carved and guilded ceiling, and on the walls a lovely series of frescoes of the life of the Virgin. Although these are by three contemporary artists of very different styles, Sodoma (1477-1579); Beccafumi (1485-1551); and the lesser known Girolamo del Pacchia (1477 to after 1533), they complement each other admirably, each artist seeming to give of his best. Most of the works were painted in 1588.

Starting with the wall opposite the door, the paintings are from left to right: St Louis by Sodoma; the birth of the Virgin by Pacchia; the presentation of the Virgin at the Temple by Sodoma; the marriage of the Virgin by Beccafumi (note the dream-like quality, dramatic use of colour and intense expressions, quite different from the understated - some would say shallow - charm of Sodoma); and San Bernadino, as toothless as ever, by Pacchia. Over the altar is another Beccafumi of the Virgin and Child with saints, disappointingly grey; and on either side the Annunciation by Pacchia. On the next wall there is, again from left to right, St Anthony by Sodoma; the Visitation by Sodoma; the death of the Virgin by Beccafumi; the Assumption of the Virgin by Sodoma; and finally St Francis by Sodoma. On the end wallis a glorious coronation of the Virgin by Sodoma, full of putti and half-clothed holy personages standing on rather solid clouds.

In Room 3 there is a pretty marble relief of the Virgin and Child and saints, with typical 14th century almond eyes - rather like a Lorenzetti painting transferred to three-dimensional marble.

In Room 4, Il Vecchietta, an artist more usually known for his painting, has turned his hand with immense competence to a polychrome wooden Pietà, stark and naturalistic. Other works in this room include two paintings harking back to the 14th century glory days of Sienese painting: a large guilded Annunciation by the 15th century Matteo di Giovanni, more in the style of Simone Martini; and a painted crucifix by Giovanni di Paolo in a by then surely archaic style.

Room 5 houses one of the most perfect of all 14th century paintings, the Madonna del Latte (the nursing Madonna) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Everything is right. It is a beautifully balanced composition with clear and harmonious colours. The Virgin looks at the Christchild with an expression of extraordinary mingled tenderness and concern (the Madonna traditionally looks sad as she looks forward to the Passion of Christ); while the Child for his part is for once a natural healthy baby, kicking and pumping at the breast.

Also in this room there is a faded but still powerful Risen Christ by the other Lorenzetti brother, Pietro, a haunting figure who has just emerged from his tomb, carrying his shroud over his arm. Opposite for a complete contrast, there is a spirited St George killing the dragon, by the unknown 15th century "Maestro of the Osservanza", and by the door there is one of the earliest works of Sienese (and indeed of Western) painting, a Virgin and Child from the beginning of the 1200s and still heavily stylised and icon-like. It is by an unknown master from whom only five paintings still remain, one of the others being the Madonna of the Big Eyes in the Museum of the OPA.

Most of the rest of the works in the Oratorio museum can be passed by, but the painting on the landing on the way to Room 6 is worth a look - a Beccafumi of Christ carrying the cross; an unadorned scene but with a certain tragic power.

Revised 2003