In this complex, lively, exciting pulpit panel the eye looks up towards the monumentality of the Virgin, who commands this scene. She is massive and powerful, the largest figure with thick swathes of drapery delineating her forcefully protruding knees out into the viewer's space. Seated but still retaining dominance, she defines the classicising style of Nicola Pisano, witnessed throughout the panels of his pulpit in Pisa. Many writers have described the style - Eloise Angiola for instance, refers to the 'sophisticated understanding of classical prototypes to create heroic human forms' in Nicola's pulpit. Certainly in Pisa the prominent debris from the classical past remained visible and Nicola easily had access to various ancient sarcophagi for direct emulation here. The Virgin's features with her serene expression and curled hair beneath the mantle are in fact quite androgenous. She quickly assumes the position of a monumental Roman Emperor or Senator commanding the people below, recalling the iconography of triumphal ancient Roman arches.
Despite the complex rendering and relief work in marble by Nicola, the scene is surprisingly readable. There is also a sense of space between figures, again to enhance this readability. Compare this work to the pulpits of Nicola's son Giovanni, for instance, and any spaciousness (and thus a degree of readability) quickly disappears. Here however Nicola varies his figures - some kneel, some stand, some look out towards the viewer, whilst some are too engrossed in the action of the Adoration itself. The three Magi are identifiable by gifts and crowns, and the Magus who stands is particularly characterful, gesturing with pious emotion towards the towering Virgin. This figure assumes the pose of an onlooker, perhaps in a suggestion of how one might behave in front of this pulpit. Certainly in Trecento imagery, the gap between viewer and image was thinning, spurred on by devotional tracts and engaging sermons delivered in these ecclesiastical spaces. Meanwhile two figures look out to the viewer, an angel identified by their wings, and a bearded figure behind the Virgin, most likely Joseph. It is interesting that Nicola chooses to give Joseph such a prominent role, a direct connection to the viewer and thus their focal point of entry. Normally Joseph is a side character or often a comic component - during the Nativity and Adoration in Giotto's Arena Chapel, Joseph is soundly asleep in both representations.
Most interesting here however, is the individualism of Nicola's style: though the Adoration of the Magi is a story repeatedly told in art, Nicola personalises it. This is particularly seen in his representation of animals. Nicola chooses horses instead of camels, again a link to his classicising predilections. With their wide eyes and open mouths, the animals are humanised, with one dipping its head perhaps to offer respect towards the Virgin, or even to reflect the kneeling stances of the Magi. The three horses are included to illustrate the arrival of the Magi and thus offer implications of a continuous narrative happening in the here and now. Sculpture was immensely important to the art of painting in the Trecento - without these Italian examples, supplemented by the art of France, it is highly unlikely painters including Giotto would have achieved such a short term, accelerated development in their art in both fresco and panel painting. It is often the case in art history that sculpture is placed second to painting, but during this period especially, it is more instructive to flip that narrative - sculpture paved the way for many painterly developments and the art of the brush was in fact playing catch up throughout the Trecento.
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