History
The prosperity of the city of Siena during the thirteenth century led to an increase in civic pride and interest in public works. In 1196, the cathedral masons' guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was commissioned to construct a new cathedral to take the place of the original structure that was built in the ninth century. Many artists were commissioned to gild the interior and the façade of the new cathedral. For the construction of the pulpit, a contract was drawn up in Pisa on September 29, 1265 between the artist Nicola Pisano and the Cistercian Fra Melano, who was the Master of the Cathedral works of Siena.Ayrton, Michael, Giovanni Pisano, sculptor, Weybright & Talley, New York, 1969 Nicola had earned fame from his work on the pulpit in the Baptistery in Pisa, which he had finished in 1260. This contract stipulated precise clauses such as "the materials, times of work (Nicola was to be absent only for 60 days a year) payment and collaborators."Murray, Peter and Linda, The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture, Oxford University, 1996 It also stated that there were to be seven panels instead of five such as in Pisa and it also stated that Pisano needed to use the Sienese Carrara marble. "For this labour Nicola, magister lapisorum, would receive eight Pisan soldi per day, his two pupils Arnolfo di Cambio and Lapo would each receive six soldi per day and—should he work—then ... Nicoli was to receive four soldi per day, to be paid to his father."The Artist
According to the Siena Cathedral archives, Nicola Pisano was born to Petrus de Apulia between 1200 and 1205 in the city of Apulia.Testi Cristiani, Maria Laura. "Pisano (i)." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T067893pg1 (accessed June 1, 2012) Nicola may have trained in the Imperial workshops of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II who encouraged artists towards the "revival of classical forms" where "the representational traditions of classical art were given new life and spiritual force". Frederick favoured the fusion of the classical and Christian traditions. Before his commission on the Siena Cathedral Pulpit, Nicola had worked on two griffin heads in Apulia modeled with "light surface undulations, giving a soft chiaroscuro effect" which shows that he was influenced by Roman sculpture early on in his career.Vasari, Giorgio, VASARI'S LIFE OF NICOLA PISANO, Vasari's Lives of the Artists. Editor, Adrienne DeAngelis Web. http://members.efn.org/~acd/vite/VasariNicPisano.html (accessed May 10, 2012) Commenting on the inspiration that Roman sarcophagi had on Nicola, Vasari wrote, "Nicola, pondering over the beauty of this work and being greatly pleased therewith, put so much study and diligence into imitating this manner and some other good sculptures that were in these other ancient sarcophagi, that he was judged, after no long time, the best sculptor of his day; there being in Tuscany in those times." Nicolas' first recorded work was the pulpit inside the Baptistery in Pisa, Italy in 1260. This piece is the forerunner of the Sienese pulpit in multiple ways. One being the “Synthesis of French Gothic and Classical elements and incorporates a programme of great complexity.” This Pisan pulpit is also raised up on columns three “resting on plain bases” and three “resting on the backs of lions” This pulpit, like the Sienese one also has rectangular relief panels that contain the Narrative of the life of Christ, but is told in only six sections where as there are eight panels on Siena’s pulpit. With the Pisan pulpit we see Nicola hone his classical style.The Pulpit
The pulpit itself is octagonal and it has a central column on a pedestal that is encircled with the carved figures of ‘Philosophy’ and the ‘Seven Liberal Arts’. There are eight outer columns made of granite, porphyry and green marble that are “supported alternately, like the Pisa pulpit on flat bases and lions.”Lusini, Aldo, The Cathedral of Siena, Tipografia ex Cooperatiral, Siena, 1950>On the Panels, there are carved reliefs that “represent a Christological cycle from the Visitation to the Last Judgment. An aspect of these panels is that each one shows more than one subject, whereas, the Last Judgment is told in the space of two reliefs. The panels of this monumental pulpit share the same compression style of the Late Antique and Roman sarcophagi. In between each of the panels on the corner sections Nicola chose to include Christian symbols to help make the story line of the panels to flow more effortlessly. The many figures in each scene with theirThe Panels
The Visitation and the Nativity “The Virgin Annuciate introduces the Visitation relief” In the first corner, on your left hand side there is the image of the Madonna with the announcing angel. To the right of that there are two women, who look like Roman matrons who clasp hands “enacting the visitation” Below them are two midwives washing the child, which may be the work of Arnolfo di Cambi. In the center of the relief, Mary lounges like a “classical goddess or empress” To the right of her the panel depicts the visiting shepherds, who “are dressed in Roman tunics, while their sheep, clustered around the Virgin’s bed, have surely strayed in from some Virgilian Pastoral, or from Jasons quest. At the Upper right, above the shepherds, intrudes the large head of a Roman Emperor, his beard and hair well-drilled in true lapidary fashion.” Also on this panel one can see the French Gothic influence. Above the two Roman matrons emerges an image of an Gothic arch and “the character of this architecture, its relative elegance and thinness of proportions, suggests transalpine influence”Polzer, Joseph, The Lucca Reliefs and Nicola Pisano, Art Bulletin, 46:2 (1964: June) Journey and Adoration of the Magi Between the images of the Shepherds visitation to Mary and the new born Jesus to the next panel containing the journey and adoration of the magi stands a carving ofThe Columns
The central column ends in a large pedestal that is decorated with the representations of the Seven Liberal Arts and Philosophers. * Grammar, as a young boy reading a book upon his lap * Dialectica, as an old scholar with a wrinkled face * Rhetoric, as a woman pointing to book * Philosophy, as a woman dressed in richly adorned clothes and holding a torch * Arithmetic, as a lady who is counting on her fingers * Music, as a woman playing a cithara * Astronomy, as a scholar holding an astrolabe (library book) The outer columns that alternate between ending at a base or upon a lions back are examples of medieval traditions as are the tri-lobed arches. The ornate foliage qualities of the capitals are a gothic expansion on the traditional Corinthian capitalKleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art through the Ages. the Western Perspective. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. The upper and lowerAdditions after Pisano
The staircase dates from 1543 and was built byConclusion
Whether Nicola Pisano learned his appreciation of neo-classicism in Frederick II’s workshop or whether he picked up inspiration from the ruins of Roman sculpture that were strewn about Pisa during that time period one can only imagine, but what is known is that Nicola mastered the combination of Christian traditions such as the Narrative of Christ with the use of Roman and Late Antique style. With the similar pulpit in Pisa being finished in 1260 and this Siena pulpit being completed in 1268 it can be seen that Nicola embraced the Classic revival before any of those deemed “Renaissance Artists”.Notes
References
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{{Siena landmarks Roman Catholic churches in Siena Pulpits