HKB
"Anno milleno bis centum bisque trideno. Hoc opus insigne sculpsit Nicola Pisanus."
The people of Siena, moved by the fame of this work, which greatly delighted not only the Pisans, but whoever saw it, assigned to Niccola the task of making for their Duomo the pulpit from which the gospel is sung, at the time when Guglielmo Mariscotti was praetor. In this Niccola introduced a number of subjects from the life of Jesus Christ, especially remarkable for the figures which they contain, which stand out in high relief, all but severed from the background, a work of great difficulty. He likewise designed the church and convent of S. Domenico at Arezzo, for the lords of Pietramela who built it, and at the request of the bishop Ubertini he restored the Pieve of Cortona, and founded the church of S. Margherita for the friars of St Francis, on the highest ground in that city. The fame of Niccola was continually on the increase, owing to these works, so that in 1267 he was invited by Pope Clement IV. to Viterbo, where, among many other things he restored the church and convent of the Friars Preachers. From Viterbo he went to Naples to King Charles, who having defeated and slain Curradino on the plain of Tagliacozzo, founded a wealthy church and abbey on the spot, for the burial-place of the large number of men who had fallen on that day, ordaining that prayers should be offered for their souls both day and night by many monks. King Charles was so delighted with the work of Niccola in this building that he loaded him with honours and rewards. On the way back from Naples to Tuscany Niccola stayed to take part in the building of S. Maria at Orvieto, where he worked in the company of some Germans, making figures in high relief in marble for the front of that church, and more particularly a Last Judgment, comprising both Paradise and Hell; and as he took the greatest pains to render the souls of the blessed in Paradise as beautifully as he possibly could, so he introduced into his Hell the most fantastic shape of devils imaginable, all intent on tormenting the souls of the damned. In this work not only did he surpass the Germans who were working there, but even himself, to his great glory, and because he introduced a great number of figures and spared no pains, it has been praised even to our own day by those whose judgment does not extend beyond such circumstances.