COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.18.70.28
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Sculpture
Creator Name:
Pisano, Giovanni
Creator Nationality:
European; Southern European; Italian
Creator Role:
Artist
Creator Dates/Places:
Italian, ca. 1240-1319
Creator Name-CRT:
Giovanni Pisano
Title:
Lectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
ca. 1301, with later additions
Creation Start Date:
1299
Creation End Date:
1303
Materials and Techniques:
Carrera marble with addition of Pentelic marble
Classification Term:
Sculpture-Stone
Dimensions:
27 3/4 x 24 3/16 x 16 in. (70.5 x 61.5 x 40.6 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
18.70.28
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1918
Context:
Sculpted by Giovanni Pisano, one of the finest sculptors of the Gothic period, this lectern was once a part of the pulpit at the Church of Sant'Andrea at Pistoia. It is in the shape of an imposing full-size figure of an eagle, grasping a book in its talons, which stands with head erect, facing to its left, wings held poised as if ready for flight. The head is a later replacement. A marble bookrest, hexagonal in form with a protruding ledge at the bottom, meant to hold the Gospels for liturgical reading, rests on the bird's wings. The eagle served as the crowning element of a Tetramorph, a sculptural composite of the symbols of the four Evangelists.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.md18.70.28.R.tif
