Restorers in the mediaeval hospital of S. Maria della Scala in Siena have removed plaster from an arch in a chapel and have revealed previously unknown frescoes, painted by two Sienese artists in 1370. The newly found frescoes of S. Geronimo and S. Ambrogio are in the Cappella del Manto, which was built in the late 14th century to house religious relics brought to Siena from the Middle East. The head of restoration, Massimo Gavazzi, says that the frescoes, which are very beautiful and in excellent condition, are signed by the artists Cristoforo di Bindoccio and Meo di Pero, two artists who, until now, had been regarded as minor Sienese painters.

The hospital of S. Maria della Scala, which in the middle ages offered hospitality to pilgrims en-route to Rome and gave assistance to the sick and the poor, functioned as a public hospital until recently. The whole complex has now been made into a museum and is one of the three most important cultural sites in the city along with the cathedral, which it faces, and the Palazzo Pubblico.