PULPIT

The highlight of the Baptistery is its extraordinary pulpit that was made in the second half of the 1200s by its own architect: Nicola Pisano. Take a few minutes to walk around its hexagonal structure: as you can see, it is particularly elaborate with columns standing on lions or monstrous creatures, which represent the sin that will be defeated by the sacrament of baptism. The hexagonal shape is an absolute novelty: before then pulpits were always square or rectangular. The artist of Apulian origins depicted some episodes of the life of Christ on the parapet's panels: the Nativity, the Announcement to the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple, the Crucifixion, and the Last Judgment. But it is not merely the hexagonal shape that makes this work a milestone in the history of Italian sculpture: more than that, it's how the numerous and powerful figures participating in the events are depicted with great personal involvement, and you can see their emotions in their expressions and gestures. You can also see the influence of the classical models, for example in the figure of Mary in the scenes of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi, who looks more like a Roman matron than a Gothic Virgin. The sculptor was probably inspired by the many Roman sarcophagi in the nearby Cemetery, which he carefully studied when he first came to work and live in Pisa.