Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/88

74 others, it may be further remarked, that Giovanni directed the works of the central nave, and this part of the building was much more securely built than the remainder of the church, which has sunk on one side from the defects of its foundations, and now, from having been so insecurely based, is in danger of ruin. And, of a truth, whoever undertakes a building, or other work of importance, should seek advice from, the best informed, and not from those who know but little, lest, when all is done, he should have to repent, with shame and loss, of having been ill directed where most he needed counsel.

Having completed his labours in Perugia, Giovanni resolved to proceed to Rome, that he might profit, as his father had done, by the study of the few antiquities then to be seen there ; but being prevented by good reasons, he refrained from carrying this resolution into effect, and the rather as he heard that the Papal Court had just gone to Avignon. He returned, therefore, to Pisa, where Nello di Giovanni Falconi, master of the Duomo, commissioned him to build the of the cathedral,—that fixed to the choir, namely, on the right hand of the spectator as he approaches the high altar. Having commenced this work, and the many figures, in full relief, three braccia high, which were to serve for its decoration, he brought it, by slow degrees, to the form it now bears. This pulpit is based partly upon the above-mentioned figures, partly on columns supported by lions ; on the sides are represented certain passages from the life of Jesus. It is truly deplorable that so much care, industry, and cost, were not accompanied by some merit of design ; that it should fall so far short of perfection, as to have neither invention, nor grace, nor any approach to good style, such as would be assured, in our times, to works of much less expense and labour. It awakened no little admiration, nevertheless, in the men of those times, accustomed to see only the rudest attempts. This work was finished in the year 1320, as appears from certain verses engraved around the said pulpit, and which proceed thus :— “ Laudo Deum verum, per quem sunt optima rerum Qui dedit has puras homini formare figuras; Hoc opus his annis Domini sculpsere Johannis