Pisa Exhibition Explores Giovanni Pisano's Rediscovery and Pulpit Fragments

A major exhibition titled "Giovanni Pisano. Memorie di uno scultore" opens at Palazzo dell'Opera in Pisa, running until March 8. Curated for the centenary of the pulpit's reinstallation in Pisa Cathedral (1926), it examines the modern myth of the sculptor and the history of his celebrated pulpit. The show reunites three fragments from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York—the Tetramorph group and two pillars with Trumpeting Angels—temporarily returning them to Pisa for the first time alongside the reconstructed parts in the Duomo. Other loans come from the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, and Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition traces how Giovanni Pisano (Pisa, 1248–Siena, 1318) was rediscovered in the 19th century by foreign artists and critics like Ingres and Ruskin before being recognized in Italy. It features paintings, engravings, documents, and works by Marino Marini and Henry Moore showing his lasting influence. The pulpit, dismantled after a 1595 fire and scattered as holy water stoups and liturgical steps, was reconstructed in 1926 thanks to conservation work by Carlo Lasinio and 19th-century debates that produced plaster models for London and Paris. The exhibition includes eleven sections blending art, documents, and multimedia, with bronzes, cartoons, and plasters by Lodovico Pogliaghi recently restored, a historical model by Giuseppe Fontana, and a new 3D reproduction of the pulpit.