Giovanni pisano, pulpito di sant'andrea, 1298-1301, 05

The pulpit in the ''pieve'' of Sant'Andrea,

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a ty ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

is a masterpiece by the Italian sculptor

Giovanni Pisano Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient ...

. The work is often compared to the pulpits sculpted by Giovanni's father

Nicola Pisano Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the ...

in the Baptistery of Pisa and the

Duomo of Siena Siena Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, and ...

, which Giovanni had assisted with. These very advanced works are often described in terms such as "proto-Renaissance", and draw on Ancient Roman

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

and other influences to form a style that represents an early revival of

classical sculpture Classical sculpture (usually with a lower case "c") refers generally to sculpture from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, as well as the Hellenized and Romanized civilizations under their rule or influence, from about 500 BC to around 200 AD. It m ...

, while also remaining Gothic, and drawing on sources such as French

ivory carving Ivory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, generally by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. Objects carved in ivory are often called "ivories". Humans have ornamentally carved ivory sinc ...

History

According to an inscription running between the pulpit's arcades and parapets, it was commissioned by Canon Arnoldus (Arnoldo) and supervised by the treasurers Andrea Vitelli and Tino di Vitale.

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

says the commission was given in 1297, and the inscription records its completion in 1301. There is no false modesty: " Giovanni carved it, who performed no empty work. The son of Nicola, and blessed with higher skill, Pisa gave him birth, endowed with mastery greater than any seen before". Giovanni was approaching the age of fifty when he began the work, and had worked on his father's projects, and possibly visited France.

Description

The structure is similar to the pulpit in Pisa: a hexagonal plan with seven columns (one in the middle), two of which are supported by lions and one by a stooping figure of

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geogra ...

, while the central one rests on three winged gryphons and the remaining ones on plain bases. The organization of the parapet's

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s is inspired by the pulpit in Siena. The iconographic program is also inspired by Nicola's work, with "Allegories" in the

pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...

s of the arches, "

Sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local tradi ...

s" and "

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

s standing on the capitals' tops, and the five parapets with the following scenes from the '' Life of Christ'': *" Annunciation", "Nativity" with the apocryphal detail of the midwives bathing the baby Christ and an "

Annunciation to the Shepherds The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols. B ...

" *" Dream of the Magi" *" Massacre of the Innocents" *"

The Crucifixion The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

" *"

Last Judgement The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

" The sixth parapet is missing, as its side provides access to the pulpit; the original stairway has now been removed.

Style

The scenes are as crowded and dramatic as those of the Sienese pulpit. Most notable is the scene of the "Massacre of the Innocents", for which it has been supposed that Giovanni took inspiration from German models, or even from the

Trajan column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apo ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. One of the

s, portrayed in the sudden gesture of fleeing towards an angel, is also of particular distinction. For the first time Pisano tilted the reliefs, with the upper parts projecting further than the lower, to allow for the position of the viewer below.Olson, 19 File:Giovanni pisano, aquila dal pulpito di sant'andrea di pistoia 01.JPG, The lectern, in the form of the Eagle of St John File:Pistoia chiesa san andria 007.JPG, "Massacre of the Innocents" File:Pistoia 200310 038 Crucifixion crop.JPG, ''The Crucifixion'' File:Giovanni pisano, pulpito di sant'andrea 10 crop.JPG, ''The Sybil and the Angel''

Notes

References

* * Henderson, George. ''Gothic'', 1967, Penguin, * Olson, Roberta J.M., ''Italian Renaissance Sculpture'', 1992, Thames & Hudson (World of Art), * Pope-Hennessy, John, ''Italian Gothic Sculpture'', Phaidon, 1986, * White, John. ''Art and Architecture in Italy, 1250 to 1400'', London, Penguin Books, 1966, 2nd edn 1987 (now Yale History of Art series). {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulpit Of St. Andrew 1301 works Buildings and structures in Pistoia Gothic sculptures Tourist attractions in Tuscany Monuments and memorials in Tuscany Pulpits