| Popis: |
The purpose of this essay is to examine some aspects of the sculptural production in Pisa in the years between the XIIth and the XIIIth century. The main object of investigation is constituted by the reliefs that adorn two portals of the Baptistery, namely the ones facing the Cathedral and the Camposanto, and the façade of the church of San Michele degli Scalzi. The first part of this article is dedicated to a precise iconographic exegesis of some figurative elements, which has been subject of debate for historiography especially due to the lack of adequate photographs. Thanks to a careful observation and analysis of the division of some episodes and to the reading of an epigraphical inscription on a scroll, the author sheds light on the detailed interpretation of some episodes of the Life of Saint John the Baptist and proposes a new identification of a prophet. The second section of this contribution includes a thorough review of the most relevant bibliographical entries related to the reliefs, which have often focused on the attempt to determine the specific geographical origin of the carvers. If a part of historiography believed the sculptors to have been trained in Byzantium, numerous scholars have instead already suggested that the artists had more likely come into contact with Byzantine artifacts which travelled throughout the Latin West. The final section of the essay includes several comparisons between the Pisan and the European artistic production of the same decades. Particular attention is given to the group of artworks displayed on the occasion of the famous exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York in 1970 and titled The Year 1200. The closeness of numerous traits of the figurative syntax highlighted in the last paragraphs points out the international character of the Pisan artistic production around the year 1200. These comparisons aim to give breath to a debate that has been so far limited to a mere attempt to identify the geographical and cultural origin of these artists. |
