Giovanni Pisano's: Statues of the Prophets

The Duomo, Siena Cathedral, is a Gothic style architecture with gothic style sculptures, and in the 13th century of 1285 to 1297 Giovanni began his work on the Sienese art, the sculptures for the facade. The 35 marble sculptures are of prophets, sibyls, and philosophers, which are comprised of iconographic fulcrum of the facade. Giovanni did away with the rigid sculptures and columns, common in Italian cathedrals. The prophets and philosophers hold scrolls that announced the coming of Christ and incarnation through Mary.

Giovanni took into account, when sculpting, how the sculptures would appear from the ground level. This is why all the statues are leaning over and have their necks extended out, so that they could be seen from the ground up. In the 19th Century to the 20th Century the original sculptures were replaced with copies. The Duomo was originally decorated with 14 sculptures, but when taken down they only found 13. The 13 sculptures can be found in Museo dell’ Opera. The missing torso of Haggai was also discovered in 1963 and is held at Victoria and Albert Museum of London.

For the iconography: the sculptures are either pointing or they have their heads turned to the side, and this is to represent the coming of baby Jesus by showing that they are engaged in a sacred conversation. Isaiah is holding a scroll with the scripture Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The only two females Giovanni sculpted were sibyls, who utters “He will be brought up as God and man,” and Mary (sister of Moses), whose neck is craned as if talking to a spectator, has the inscription “This boy gave stability to Heaven and Earth.” The evangelists are Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John. The first gospel, Matthew, which is represented as the angel, has the scroll with the scripture Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The second gospel, Mark, the lion, has on his scroll the scripture Mark 1:1-2 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” The third gospel, Luke, represented as the ox, doesn't have a scroll. And then the last gospel, John, as the eagle, has the scripture John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The two philosophers are Aristotle and Plato. They both hold unfurled scrolls, which are in Latin. Aristotle's foretells the birth of the son and the incarnation in the womb. Plato’s scroll predicts the young mother and the most immaculate virgin. Both philosophers are holding maxims taken from the handbook of Christian, Greek, and Latin iconography. And they are pointing or looking in the same direction towards the Son of God. All the statues by Giovanni are made to show the coming of the Messiah and his carnation through Mary.