Biblical scenes, in which the figures are treated with the freedom, the ease, the vitality, so to speak, which we noticed as a special characteristic of the works of the best age of Greek art. The cathedral of Siena possesses a marble pulpit from the same masterly hand, commenced six years later than that of Pisa. The reliefs are instinct with passionate religious fervour.
The immediate successors of Niccolò of Pisa were his son Giovanni, his pupil Arnolfo, the brothers Agostino and Agnolo of Siena, Andrea of Pisa, and Andrea Orcagna.
Giovanni Pisano introduced a new style in sculpture which may be characterised as realistic; the first employment of it was in the sculptures of the west front of Orvieto Cathedral, on which all the chief artists of Tuscany were employed. One of Giovanni's most famous isolated works is the Madonna del Fiore of Florence Cathedral: the figure of the holy mother is grand and dignified, and her face full of earnest thought rather than passionate feeling. Giovanni especially excelled in the allegorical sculpture which the writings of Dante did so much to encourage. A symbolical statue of Pisa, in the Campo Santo at Pisa, is a fine work of the kind. The high altar of the cathedral of Arezzo is an extremely spirited composition by the same master. The chief work of Andrea Pisano is the southern bronze gate of the Baptistery of Florence (Fig. 100); that of Orcagna the magnificent baldacchino of the high altar of Or San Michele at Florence, which is, perhaps, the finest piece of decorative sculpture in the world. Venice, Naples, and Rome are rich in monumental sculpture by the various artists mentioned above; and the tombs of the Scaligers at Verona are remarkable works, in which we see the first introduc-
