2015

Plaster cast of a marble pulpit by Nicola Pisano, Pisa, Italy 1260, cast made by Franchi and Son, London, about 1864.

The plaster cast of a pulpit was constructed after the marble original which once stood in the Cathedral of Pisa. The pulpit has inscriptions running round the frieze and the base that make it clear that the sculptor was Giovanni Pisano (1250-1314) and that the work was completed by 1311. Reliefs show scenes from the life of Christ and the The Last Judgement. A central support comprises images of the three Virtues over a base depicting the Liberal Arts. The two supports nearest the front of the pulpit depict Christ over the Four Evangelists and Ecclesia over the four Cardinal Virtues. The original pulpit was dismantled in 1602 following a fire in the cathedral. A new pulpit by Fancelli was installed 25 years later, it used some of Pisano’s original carvings and the rest, including the narrative reliefs, were used elsewhere in the cathedral. Interest in the original appearance of the pulpit was re-awakened in the nineteenth century. Pisan sculptor Giovanni Fontana worked on a reconstruction carved from wood and in 1865 a group of British bronze sculptors produced their own reconstruction. The two reconstructions differed in detail. This cast seems to be from this 1865 reconstruction. Another copy of this cast was shown in the Exposition Universelle in Paris, in 1867.

To parody the famous quip of Pope Gregory I: "Non Angeli sed Angli." (As usual, the pun loses something in translation.)

The full height of Trajan’s Column could not possibly be accommodated and the column is divided into two roughly equal parts. The original column in Rome is some 30m high and includes an internal spiral staircase which leads to a platform at the top. The cast is of the huge pedestal and the entire column, but excludes the viewing platform. The original statue on the top was lost in antiquity. The pedestal is covered in illustrations of booty from the Dacian Wars and the column is covered in a detailed frieze illustrating the conquest of Dacia by the Roman emperor Trajan. The frieze spirals around the column and describes in narrative form two wars against Dacia, the first (101–102 C.E.) is illustrated in the lower portion of the column, and the second (105–106 C.E.) in the upper portion. The dividing point on the column is marked by a personification of Victory writing on a shield and this is approximately the point at which the cast of the column is divided. The column was cast in many small parts and these parts were reconstituted on brick chimney-like structures built especially for the purpose. Just as on the original there is a door on the cast of the pedestal that affords access to the interior, but within the cast there is nothing to be seen but the white painted interior of the brick chimney. The upper portion is similarly hollow, but there is no means of access. In Rome the frieze is extremely difficult to see. The viewing conditions in the museum are also less than optimal. The lower section is atop a huge pedestal some 4 metres (13 ft) high. Consequently, the only part of the frieze that can be examined closely by the public is the bottom of the upper portion. The mid-level corridor does afford an alternative view albeit at a distance and only from one side. The upper-level walkway looks down on the column and does give views all round, but at a significant distance and this is not open to the public.