HKB
per quem sunt optima rerum Qui dedit has puras homini formate figuras; Hoc opus, his annis Domini sculpsere Johannis Arte manus sole quandam, natique Nicole. Cursis undenis tercentum milleque plenis."
There are thirteen other lines, which I do not write here, because I do not wish to weary the reader, and because these are sufficient to show not only that the pulpit is by the hand of Giovanni, but that the men of that time were alike in their shortcomings. A Madonna between St John the Baptist and another saint may be seen over the principal of the door of the Duomo; it is in marble, and by the hand of Giovanni, and the figure kneeling at her feet is said to be Piero Gambacorti, the warden. However this may be, the following words are cut in the pedestal, on which the image of Our Lady stands:
"Sub Petri cura haec pia fuit scutpta figura Nicoli nato sculptore Johanne vocato."
Moreover there is another marble Madonna, by Giovanni, over the side door, which is opposite the campanile, while on one side of her kneel a lady and two children, representing Pisa, and on the other side the Emperor Henry. On the base are these words:
Ave gratia plena, Dominus teum,
and then--
Nobilis arte manus sculpsit Johannes Pisanus Sculpsit sub Burgundio Tadi benigno.
And about the base of Pisa:
Virginis ancilla sum Pisa quieta sub illa,
and about the base of Henry:
Imperat Henricus qui Cliristo fertur amicus.
In the old Pieve at Prato, beneath the altar of the principal chapel, was preserved for many years the girdle of Our Lady, which Michele da Prato had brought back with him from the Holy Land, and had deposited it with Uberto, provost of the church, who laid it in the said place, where it was always held in great veneration. In the year 1312 an attempt to steal it was made by a native of Prato, a man of a most evil life, another Ser Ciappelletto, but he was discovered and put to death for sacrilege. Moved by this deed, the people of Prato proposed to make a strong and suitable receptacle in which the girdle should be kept with greater security, and sent for Giovanni, who was now an old man. Acting upon his advice, they constructed the chapel in the principal church, where Our Lady's girdle now reposes. They then greatly increased their church also from his plans, and incrusted both the church and the campanile with white and black marble on the outside, as may be seen. At length Giovanni died at a ripe old age in the year 1320, after having completed many works in sculpture and architecture besides those which are mentioned here. And in truth a great debt is due to him and to Niccola his father, since in an age which lacked every element of good design, in the midst of all the darkness they threw so much light on those arts in which they were really excellent.