only in sculpture but also in architecture by means of the works
which were in progress throughout Italy, but especially in Tuscany,
with some amount of good design. Thus he contributed not a little to
the abbey of Settimo, left unfinished by the executors of Count Hugh
of Brandenburg, as the other six had been, as we have noticed above.
For although an inscription on the campanile of the abbey reads
"_Gugliel me fecit_" yet it is clear from the style of the work that
it was carried out under the control of Niccola. At the same time he
was building the old palace of the _anziani_ at Pisa. This
building has been dismantled at the present time by Duke Casino,
who has used a part of the old edifice for the erection of the
magnificent palace and convent of the new order of the knights of St
Stephen, after the designs of Giorgio Vasari, Aretine painter and
architect, who has done his best with the old walls, to adapt them to
the modern style. Niccola designed many other palaces and churches at
Pisa, and he was the first, after the loss of good methods of
construction, who introduced the founding of buildings at Pisa upon
pillars connected by arches, first driving piles in under the
pillars. This method renders the building absolutely secure, as is
shown by experience, whereas without the piles, the foundations are
liable to give way, causing the walls to fall down. The church of S.
Michele in Borgo of the monks of Gamaldoli was also built after his
plans. But the most beautiful, ingenious and fanciful piece of
architecture that Niccola ever constructed was the campanile of S.
Niccola at Pisa, where the friars of St Augustine are. Outside it is
octagonal, but the interior is round with a winding staircase rising
to the top leaving the middle space void like a well, while on every
fourth step there are columns with lame arches, which follow the
curve of the building. The spring of the vaulting rests upon these
arches, and the ascent is of such sort that anyone on the ground
always sees those who are going up, those who are at the top see
those who are on the ground, while those who are in the middle see
both those who are above and those below. This curious invention was
afterwards adopted by Bramante in a better style with more balanced
measurements and richer ornamentation, for Pope Julius II. in the
Belvedere at Rome, and by Antonio da Sangallo for Pope Clement VII.
in the well at Orvieto, as will be said when the time comes.
To return to Niccola who excelled no less as a sculptor than as an
architect. For the church of S. Martino at Lucca he executed a
deposition from the Cross, which is under the portico above the minor
doorway on the left hand as one enters the church. It is executed in
marble, and is full of figures in half relief, carried out with great
care, the marble being pierced through, and the whole finished in
such style as to give rise to hopes in those who first practised this
art with the most severe labour, that one would soon come who would
give them more assistance with greater ease. It was Niccola also who
in the year 1240 designed the church of S. Jacopo at Pistoia, and set
some Tuscan masters to work there in mosaic, who did the vaulting of
the apse. But although it was considered a difficult and costly thing
at the time, it rather moves one to laughter and compassion to-day,
and not to admiration, oh account of the poorness of the design, a
defect which was prevalent not only in Tuscany, but throughout Italy,
where the number of buildings and other things erected without method
and without design betray the poverty of their minds no less than the
bountiful riches lavished on them by the men of their day; a wasteful
expenditure of wealth, because there was no masters capable of
executing in a good style the things which they made for them. Now
Niccola was steadily increasing his renown in both sculpture and
architecture, and was of greater account than the sculptors and
architects who were then at work in the Romagna, as one may see in
S. Ippolito and S. Giovanni at Faenza, in the Duomo of Ravenna, in
S. Francesco, in the houses of the Traversari, and in the church of
Prato, and at Rimini, in the public palace, in the houses of the
Malatesti, and in other buildings which are much worse than the old
buildings erected in Tuscany at the same time; and what is here said
of the Romagna, may be repeated with even more truth of a part of
Lombardy. It is only necessary to see the Duomo of Ferrara and the
other buildings erected for the Marquis Azzo, to perceive at once how
different they are from the Santo of Padua, built from Niccola's
model, and from the church of the friars minors at Venice, both of
them magnificent and famous buildings.
In Niccola's day there were many moved by a laudable spirit of
emulation, who applied themselves more diligently to sculpture than
they had done before, especially in Milan, where many Lombards and
Germans were gathered for the building of the Duomo. These were
afterwards scattered throughout Italy by the dissensions which arose
between the Milanese and the Emperor Frederick. They then began to
compete among themselves, both in carving marble and in erecting
buildings, and produced works of some amount of excellence. The same
thing happened in Florence after the works of Arnolfo and Niccola
were seen. The latter, while the little church of the Misericordia on
the piazza S. Giovanni was being built after his designs, carved a
marble statue of Our Lady with St Domenic and another saint on either
side, which may still be seen on the façade of that church. It was
also in Niccola's time that the Florentines began to demolish many
towers, erected previously in a rude style in order that the people
should suffer less by their means in the frequent collisions between
the Guelphs and Ghibellines, or for the greater security of the
commonweal. One of these, the tower of Guardamorto, situated on the
piazza S; Giovanni, presented unusual difficulty to those who wished
to destroy it because the walls were so well knit that the stones
could not be removed with the pickaxe, and also because the tower was
a very high one. Niccola, however, caused a piece to be cut out of
one of the sides of the tower and closed the gap with wooden
supports, a braccia and a half long, he then set fire to the props,
and so soon as these were consumed the tower fell down and was
totally destroyed. The idea seemed so ingenious and so well adapted
for such emergencies, that it afterwards came into general use, so
that whenever it was necessary to destroy a building, the task was
speedily accomplished in this most facile manner.
Niccola was present when the foundations of the Duomo of Siena were
laid, and he designed the Church of S. Giovanni in that city. He went
back to Florence in the year of the return of the Guelphs, and
designed the church of S. Trinita, and the women's convent at Faenza,
pulled down in recent years to make the citadel. Being subsequently
summoned to Naples, and not wishing to abandon his enterprises in
Tuscany, he sent thither his pupil Maglione, sculptor and architect,
who in the time of Conrad afterwards built the church of S. Lorenzo
at Naples, finished a part of the Vescorado, and made some tombs
there, in which he closely imitated the manner of his master,
Niccola. In the meantime Niccola went to Volterra, in the year that
the people of that place came under the dominion of the Florentines
(1254), in response to a summons, because they wished him to enlarge
their Duomo, which was small; and although it was very irregular, he
improved its appearance, and made it more magnificent than it was
originally. Then at length he returned to Pisa and made the marble
pulpit of S. Giovanni, devoting all his skill to it, so that he might
leave a memory of himself in his native place. Among other things in
it he carved the Last Judgment, filling it with a number of figures,
and if they are not perfectly designed they are at any rate executed
with patience and diligence, as may be seen; and because he
considered that he had completed a work which was worthy of praise,
as indeed he had, he carved the following lines at the foot:
"Anno milleno bis centum bisque trideno.
Hoc opus insigne sculpsit Nicola Pisanus."
The people of Siena, moved by the fame of this work, which greatly
delighted not only the Pisans, but whoever saw it, assigned to
Niccola the task of making for their Duomo the pulpit from which the
gospel is sung, at the time when Guglielmo Mariscotti was praetor. In
this Niccola introduced a number of subjects from the life of Jesus
Christ, especially remarkable for the figures which they contain,
which stand out in high relief, all but severed from the background,
a work of great difficulty. He likewise designed the church and
convent of S. Domenico at Arezzo, for the lords of Pietramela who
built it, and at the request of the bishop Ubertini he restored the
Pieve of Cortona, and founded the church of S. Margherita for the
friars of St Francis, on the highest ground in that city. The fame of
Niccola was continually on the increase, owing to these works, so
that in 1267 he was invited by Pope Clement IV. to Viterbo, where,
among many other things he restored the church and convent of the
Friars Preachers. From Viterbo he went to Naples to King Charles, who
having defeated and slain Curradino on the plain of Tagliacozzo,
founded a wealthy church and abbey on the spot, for the burial-place
of the large number of men who had fallen on that day, ordaining that
prayers should be offered for their souls both day and night by many
monks. King Charles was so delighted with the work of Niccola in this
building that he loaded him with honours and rewards. On the way back
from Naples to Tuscany Niccola stayed to take part in the building of
S. Maria at Orvieto, where he worked in the company of some Germans,
making figures in high relief in marble for the front of that church,
and more particularly a Last Judgment, comprising both Paradise and
Hell; and as he took the greatest pains to render the souls of the
blessed in Paradise as beautifully as he possibly could, so he
introduced into his Hell the most fantastic shape of devils
imaginable, all intent on tormenting the souls of the damned. In this
work not only did he surpass the Germans who were working there, but
even himself, to his great glory, and because he introduced a great
number of figures and spared no pains, it has been praised even to
our own day by those whose judgment does not extend beyond such
circumstances.
Among other children Niccola had a son called Giovanni, who was
always with his father, and under his care learned both sculpture and
architecture, so that in the course of a few years he became not only
the equal of his father, but his superior in some things. Thus, as
Niccola was already old, he withdrew to Pisa and lived quietly there,
leaving the control of everything to his son. At the death in Perugia
of Pope Urban IV., Giovanni was sent for to make the tomb, which he
executed in marble; but it was afterwards thrown down, together with
that of Pope Martin IV., when the Perugians enlarged their Vescovado,
so that only a few remains may be seen to-day dispersed about the
church. At the same time the Perugians, thanks to the skill and
industry of a friar of the Silvestrini, had brought to their city
from the hill of Pacciano, two miles away, an abundance of water. The
ornamentation of the fountain in both bronze and marble was entrusted
to Giovanni, so that he thereupon set his hand to the work, making
three basins, one above the other, two in marble and one in bronze.
The first is placed at the top of a flight of steps of twelve faces,
the second rests on some pillars which rise from the centre of the
first, while the third, which is of bronze, is supported by three
figures; and in the middle are griffins, also of bronze, which throw
out water on every side. And as Giovanni considered that he had
executed an excellent piece of work, he put his name to it. The
arches and conduits of this fountain, which cost 160,000 gold ducats,
were found to be very much worn and broken about the year 1560, but
Vincenzio Danti, sculptor of Perugia, contrived a means, to his great
glory, of bringing water to the fountain in the original way, without
rebuilding the arches, which would have been very costly. When the
work was finished Giovanni felt anxious to return to see his old
father, who was sick, and he set out from Perugia intending to return
to Pisa; but on his way through Florence he was compelled to stay
there, to assist with others at the mills of the Arno, which were
being made at S. Gregorio, near the piazza dei Mozzi. But at length
receiving word that his father Niccola was dead, he departed for
Pisa, where he was received with great honour by all the city, on
account of his worth, since everyone rejoiced that although Niccola
was lost to them, yet they still possessed Giovanni, who inherited
his father's ability as well as his property. Nor were they deceived
in him when the time of testing arrived, for when it was necessary to
do some few things for the tiny but highly-ornate church of S. Maria
della Spina, the task was entrusted to Giovanni. He therefore put his
hand to the work and brought the ornamentation of that oratory to the
state of perfection which it possesses to-day, the more so as he
introduced the portrait of Niccola, taken from life, executed to the
best of his ability. When the Pisans had seen this they decided to
entrust him the construction of the Campo Santo, which is against the
piazza del Duomo towards the walls, as they had long desired and
talked of having a place for the burial of all their dead, both
gentle and simple, so that the Duomo should not be filled with tombs,
or for other reasons. Thus Giovanni with good designs and great
judgment erected the building as we now see it, in style, size, and
marble ornamentation, and as no expense was spared, it was roofed
with lead. On the outside of the principle entrance may be read
these words, carved in the marble:
"A.D. MCCLXXVIII. tempore Domini Federigi archiepiscopi
Pisani, et Domini Terlati potestatis operario Orlando Sardella,
Johanne magistro aedificante."
In the completion of this work, 1283, Giovanni went to Naples, where
he erected the Castel Nuovo for King Charles; and in order to enlarge
it and add to its strength, he was compelled to pull down a number of
houses and churches, among them a convent of the friars of St
Francis, which was afterwards rebuilt on a larger and grander scale
at some distance from the castle, with the title of S. Maria della
Nuova. After these building had been set on foot and were well
advanced, Giovanni left Naples to return to Tuscany, but when he
reached Siena he was not allowed to go farther, but was induced to
design the façade of the Duomo of that city, which was subsequently
erected from his plans in a very rich and magnificent style. In the
following year, 1286, while the bishop's palace at Arezzo was being
built from the design of Margaritone, architect of Arezzo, Giovanni
was fetched from Sienna to that city by Guglielmo Ubertini, the
bishop there. He there executed in marble the table of the high
altar, full of figures cut in relief of leaves and other ornaments,
dividing the work into compartments by fine mosaics and enamels on
silver plates, fixed into the marble with great care. In the midst is
Our Lady with the child at her neck, and on one side of her is St
Gregory the Pope (which is a portrait of Pope Honorius IV. drawn from
life), and on the other side St Donato, the bishop and protector of
that city, whose body, with those of St Antilia and other saints,
rest under that same altar. And as the altar stands out by itself,
the sides are decorated with small representations in bas-relief from
the life of St Donato, and the work is crowned with a series of
niches, full of marble figures in relief, of exquisite workmanship.
On the Madonna's breast is an ornament shaped like a gold casket,
containing, if report be true, jewels of great value, although it is
believed that they, as well as some other small figures on the top
and about the work, were taken away by the soldiers, who do not often
respect the even most Holy Sacrament. On these works the Aretines
expended 30,000 florins, as is found in some records. Nor does this
appear impossible, because at that time it was considered to be a
thing of the most precious and rare description, so that when
Frederick Barbarossa returned from his coronation at Rome, and was
passing through Arezzo many years after its completion, he praised
and admired it infinitely, and indeed with good cause, since the
joints are constructed of tiny pieces so excellently welded
together, that to an inexperienced eye, the whole work seems to be
made in one piece. In the same church Giovanni made the chapel of the
Ubertini, a noble family, and lords of a castle, as they still are,
though they were formerly of greater estate. He adorned this with
many marble ornaments, which are to-day covered over by many large
ornaments of stone, placed there in the year 1535, after plans by
Giorgio Vasari, for the support of an organ of extraordinary
excellence and beauty which rests upon them. Giovanni Pisano also
designed the church of S. Maria dei Servi, which has been destroyed
in our day, together with many palaces of the noblest families of the
city, for the reasons mentioned above. I must not omit to note that
in the construction of the marble altar Giovanni was assisted by some
Germans, who associated with him, rather for the sake of learning the
art, than for gain, and who profited so much by his instruction, that
when they went to Rome, after the completion of that work, they
served Pope Boniface VIII. in many works of sculpture executed for St
Peter's, and also in architecture, when he made Civita Castellana.
They were, moreover, sent by that Pope to S. Maria at Orvieto, where
they made a number of marble figures for the façade of the church,
which were very tolerable for those times. But among the others who
assisted Giovanni in his undertakings for the Vescovado at Arezzo,
were Agostino and Agnolo, sculptors and architects of Siena, who far
surpassed all the others, as will be said in the proper place. But
to return to Giovanni. When he left Orvieto he came to Florence to
see Arnolfo's building of S. Maria del Fiore, and also to see Giotto,
of whom he had heard a great deal elsewhere; but no sooner had he
arrived in Florence than he was appointed by the intendants of the
fabric of S. Maria del Fiore to make the Madonna, which stands
between two small angels above the door of that church, which leads
into the canons' quarters, a work much praised at the time. He next
made the small font for S. Giovanni, containing representations from
the life of that saint in half-relief. Proceeding thence to Bologna
he directed the construction of the principal chapel of the church of
St Domenico, in which he was also commissioned to make the marble
altar by Teodorico Borgognoni of Lucca, then bishop, a friar of that
order. Later on (1298), in the same place, he made the marble table
in which are Our Lady and eight other figures, all of very tolerable
workmanship. In the year 1300, when Niccola da Prato was at Florence
as cardinal legate of the Pope, for the purpose of settling the
discords among the Florentines, he caused Giovanni to build a nunnery
for him at Prato, which was called S. Niccola after him, and in the
same district he made him restore the convent of S. Domenico, as well
as that of Pistoia, in both of which the arms of that cardinal may
still be seen. And since the Pistolese held the name of Niccola,
Giovanni's father, in great respect, because he had displayed his
talents in that city, they commissioned Giovanni to make a marble
pulpit for the church of S. Andrea, similar to that which he had made
for the Duomo of Siena, and in competition with one which had been
made shortly before for the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista by a
German, which had been much praised. Giovanni finished his task in
four years, dividing the work into four subjects from the life of
Jesus Christ, and further introducing a Last Judgment, working with
the utmost diligence in order to equal, and perhaps surpass, that
celebrated pulpit of Orvieto. About the pulpit above some columns
which support it and in the architrave he carved the following lines,
since he thought that he had completed a great and beautiful work, as
indeed he had, considering the attainments of the age:
Hoc opus sculpsit Johannes, qui res non egit inanes.
Nicoli natus . . . meliora beatus
Quam genuit Pisa, doctum super omnia visa.
At the same time Giovanni made the holy water vessel in marble for
the same church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, borne by three figures,
Temperance, Prudence and Justice, and as it was then considered a
work of great beauty, it was placed in the middle of the church as a
remarkable object. Before he left Pistoia he made the model for the
campanile of S. Jacopo, the principal church of the city, although
the work was not then begun. The tower is situated beside the church
in the piazza of S. Jacopo, and bears the date A.D. 1301. On the
death of Pope Benedict IX. at. Perugia, Giovanni was sent for to make
his tomb, which he executed in marble in the old church of S.
Domenico of the Friars Preachers, placing the Pope's effigy, taken
from life, and in his pontifical habit, upon the sarcophagus with two
angels holding a curtain, one on either side, and Our Lady above,
between two saints, executed in relief, as well as many other
ornaments carved on the tomb. Similarly in the new church of the same
order he made the tomb of M. Niccolo Guidalotti of Perugia, bishop of
Recanati, who was the founder of the new University of Perugia. In
this same new church, which had been previously founded by others, he
directed the construction of the principal nave, and this part of the
building was much more securely founded than the rest, which leans
over to one side, and threatens to fall down, owing to the faulty
laying of the foundations. And in truth he who undertakes to build or
perform any things of importance ought always to take the advice, not
of those who know little, but of those most competent to help him, so
that he may not afterwards have to repent with loss and shame that he
was ill-directed when he was in most need of assistance.
When he had completed his labours in Perugia, Giovanni wished to go
to Rome to learn from the few antique things there, as his father had
done, but being hindered by good reasons, he was never able to fulfil
his desire, chiefly because he heard that the court had just gone to
Avignon. So he returned to Pisa, where Nello di Giovanni Falconi,
craftsman, entrusted to him the great pulpit of the Duomo, which is
fixed to the choir on the right hand side as one approaches the high
altar. He set to work on this, and on a number of figures in full
relief, three braccia high, which he intended to use for it, and
little by little he brought it to its present form, resting in part
on the said figures and in part upon lions, while on the sides he
represented scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. It is truly a sin
that so much money, such diligence and labour should not be
accompanied by good design, and that it should lack that perfection,
invention, grace, and good style which any work of our own day would
possess, even were it executed at much less cost and with less
difficulty. Yet it must have excited no small admiration among the
men of the time, who had only been accustomed to see the rudest
productions. It was finished in the year 1320, as appears in certain
lines which run round the pulpit and read thus:
"Laudo Deum verum, per quem sunt optima rerum
Qui dedit has puras homini formate figuras;
Hoc opus, his annis Domini sculpsere Johannis
Arte manus sole quandam, natique Nicole.
Cursis undenis tercentum milleque plenis."
There are thirteen other lines, which I do not write here, because I
do not wish to weary the reader, and because these are sufficient to
show not only that the pulpit is by the hand of Giovanni, but that
the men of that time were alike in their shortcomings. A Madonna
between St John the Baptist and another saint may be seen over the
principal of the door of the Duomo; it is in marble, and by the hand
of Giovanni, and the figure kneeling at her feet is said to be Piero
Gambacorti, the warden. However this may be, the following words are
cut in the pedestal, on which the image of Our Lady stands:
"Sub Petri cura haec pia fuit scutpta figura
Nicoli nato sculptore Johanne vocato."
Moreover there is another marble Madonna, by Giovanni, over the side
door, which is opposite the campanile, while on one side of her kneel
a lady and two children, representing Pisa, and on the other side the
Emperor Henry. On the base are these words:
Ave gratia plena, Dominus teum,
and then--
Nobilis arte manus sculpsit Johannes Pisanus
Sculpsit sub Burgundio Tadi benigno.
And about the base of Pisa:
Virginis ancilla sum Pisa quieta sub illa,
and about the base of Henry:
Imperat Henricus qui Cliristo fertur amicus.