In 1278 Nicola died, after a life of great achievements. He left an untarnished name, too, for he had been loved and respected by all his associates, and as patron, friend, and servant had done all his duty. Mr. Perkins, in his "Tuscan Sculptors," says of him: "Inestimable were the services rendered to art by this great man. He gave the death-blow to Byzantinism and barbarism; established new architectural principles; founded a new school of sculpture in Italy, and opened men's eyes to the degraded state of art by showing them where to study and how to study; so that Cimabue, Guido da Siena, the Masuccios and the Cosmati all profited by his pervading and enduring influence. Never hurried by an ill-regulated imagination into extravagances, he was careful in selecting his objects of study and his methods of self-cultivation; an indefatigable worker, who spared neither time nor strength in obedience to the numerous calls made upon him from all parts of the peninsula; now in Pisa, then in Naples, Padua, Siena, Lucca, or Florence; here to design a church, there to model a bas-relief, erect a pulpit, a palace or a tower; by turns architect and sculptor, great in both, original in both, a reviver in both, laying deep and well the foundations of his edifices by hitherto unpractised methods, and sculpturing his bas-reliefs upon principles evolved from the study of antique models long unheeded. Ever respected and esteemed by the many persons of all classes with whom he came in contact, he was truly a great man—one to whom the world owes an eternal debt of gratitude, and who looms up in gigantic proportions through the mist of five centuries, holding the same relation to Italian art which Dante holds to Italian literature."
Fra Guglielmo d'Agnello (1238-1314?), also a Pisan, was a pupil of Nicola Pisano, and worked with him at Bologna. There is little to be said of his works after his master's death.
Giovanni Pisano (about 1240-1320) was born at Pisa, and though a pupil of his father and a co-worker with him, he seems to have fallen under some other and a very different influence. In architecture he preferred the Gothic style, and in sculpture he was fond of all sorts of fantastic action and expression; his works were full of exaggeration. He was an architect as well as sculptor, and was a master in his own right when twenty years old, and in 1268 he went to Naples to design a church for the Franciscans; he was also the architect of the episcopal palace there.
After the death of his father the Pisans were anxious to retain Giovanni in their service; he first transformed an old church into a new one in the pointed style of architecture. It was named Santa Maria della Spina, because a rich merchant had presented one of the thorns from the crown of Christ to it. This was the first building in Italy of this style of architecture. Giovanni next built the Campo Santo of Pisa. Many shiploads of earth had been brought from Palestine to Pisa in order to make a burial-place in which Christians could be laid in the sacred earth. Giovanni Pisano inclosed the spot where this earth was laid with walls and arranged the interior of the inclosure in such a way that it could be extensively decorated with works of art. He made it the most beautiful Campo Santo in Italy. Many of the sculptures are by his own hand. (Fig. 81.)
This allegorical representation of Pisa was the first attempt at making large statues in Italy since the days of the Emperor Constantine. The city stands alone, and is a proud princess with a diadem, holding in her arms two infants to indicate her fruitfulness. Below her are four statues of the cardinal virtues, Temperance being a nude figure. It is a very strange work, and in some respects not attractive, but it shows the originality of the sculptor; the principal figure has much intensity of expression.
From this monument and his other works in Pisa, Giovanni became famous, and was called to Siena to build the front of the cathedral. The people of Siena held out every inducement to him to make his home there, by freeing him from taxes for life; but after three years he went to Perugia, where he erected a monument which has been destroyed. After this time he devoted himself entirely to sculpture, and executed a variety of works at Arezzo, Pistoja, Florence, Perugia, and Cortona. In 1312 he commenced the rebuilding of the cathedral at Prato.
Fig. 81.—Campo Santo of Pisa.
Giovanni Pisano.
We have not the space to speak of his works in detail. The Campo Santo has more of interest than the others, and is Romanesque in its character; and yet it is true that he employed Gothic forms far more than any other. Some authors credit Giovanni with having introduced an independent art into Italy; but let that be as it may, he had not the feeling for beauty, neither had he the repose which was such a charm in the works of his father. At the same time his works are full of life and dramatic action, and could never have been designed or executed by any man who had not an uncommon genius.
Arnolfo di Cambio (1232-1310) was also a pupil of Nicola Pisano, and though eight years older than Giovanni Pisano he did not become an independent master until after Giovanni had won much fame. There are some works in Rome which are attributed to Arnolfo, but as there are uncertainties about his being their author, it is not best for us to discuss them here. He erected at Orvieto, in the church of San Domenico, a monument to the Cardinal de Braye. It was a very elaborate work, and the statue of the Madonna, which is placed above that of the cardinal, is full of majestic spirit and dignified repose. This is the only well-authenticated sculptural work by Arnolfo, but this is one of the most finished monuments of the art of the Pisan school, and is quite sufficient to bring his name through the centuries with honor.