[Public Voices] What Is the Difference Between Good Government and Bad Government?

On the second floor of the Civic Museum in the Italian city of Siena, there is a "Room of Peace." Although it is now a museum, it once served as the government hall of Siena, which operated as a republic throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods.

This room is famous for the frescoes created by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in 1338 and 1339. The frescoes, which cover three walls of the Room of Peace measuring 7.7 meters wide and 14.4 meters tall, feature the "Allegory of Good Government" in the center, the "Effects of Good Government on the City and Countryside" on the right, and the "Effects of Bad Government" on the left.

Why were such frescoes painted in the main hall of the government building? Perhaps it was meant as a reminder to public officials under the republican system to reflect on whether they are creating a good government or a bad one.

In South Korea, every member of the National Assembly takes an oath at the start of their term. Civil servants also take an oath. However, after the initial declaration, it often falls into oblivion. In contrast, Ambrogio’s frescoes of good and bad government confront public officials every day as they come to work. It is a message never to forget.

Let us examine the content. The core of the good government fresco lies in the virtues that a ruler must possess. Around the ruler are personifications of the virtues "indomitable courage," "prudence," "temperance," and "magnanimity." When a ruler governs the republic with these virtues, "peace" arrives.

On the left side of the painting is the goddess of Justice, whose gaze is directed toward the deity of "Wisdom" painted above. This symbolizes that wisdom is necessary for judgment. The goddess of Justice holds two scales representing reward and punishment, from which two cords extend. These cords pass from the figures symbolizing "harmony" and the citizens, ultimately reaching the ruler. The ruler grasps these cords in his right hand like a scepter, symbolizing the connection between the ruler and the citizens through the "cord of justice."

The fresco on the right wall of the Room of Peace depicts a utopia of prosperity, abundance, and happiness that citizens can enjoy under good government. It conveys the message to public officials that their duty is to create such a utopia.

Conversely, on the left wall, the bad government fresco portrays the ruler as a demon with horns and fangs. This "tyrant" is surrounded by "arrogance," "vanity," and "greed," while his subordinates are engrossed in tyranny, conspiracy, intrigue, anger, and war. Naturally, bad government ruins the lives of citizens. City buildings collapse, citizens are arrested or die, and outside the city, the land is depicted as a wasteland burned by the "terror" of state power.

What is the core lesson of this painting? It is that the values pursued by rulers and public officials decisively affect the lives of citizens.

When values of justice, temperance, magnanimity, courage, and prudence are practiced, an era of harmony, prosperity, and peace arrives. Conversely, when a tyrant filled with arrogance, greed, and vanity governs, "terror" spreads, and the lives of the people become devastated. Siena itself ignored Ambrogio’s warning and walked the path of decline.

Which path is the Republic of Korea walking in 2025? Is there even a single political force with the indomitable will to properly realize the values pursued by good government? Are there only hypocrites who speak of good government but pursue bad government? I hope readers will contemplate Ambrogio’s frescoes and make their own judgments.

Kang Young-cheol, Chairman of the Good Regulation Citizens Forum

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.