Bronze Doors of St. Ranieri (Porta San Ranieri)
The huge Pisan Romanesque cathedral, with its carved pulpit by Giovanni Pisano, is artistically more important than its more famous bell tower. Budget some sightseeing time for the church’s artistic and historic treasures.
(See “Pisa” map, here.)
Cost: Free; you can enter using any of the combo-tickets (see sidebar on here) or pick up a free voucher (valid for up to two people) at one of the ticket offices nearby.
Hours: Daily April-Sept 10:00-20:00, Oct 10:00-19:00, Nov-Feb 10:00-13:00 & 14:00-17:00, March 10:00-18:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing.
Dress Code: Shorts are OK as long as they’re not too short, and shoulders should be covered (although it’s not really enforced).
Audioguides: Don’t let the sparkle of the new coin-operated “phone guides” tempt you. These €2 machines still use narration from a bygone era.
Length of This Tour: Allow one hour.
Baggage: Big backpacks are not allowed, nor is storage provided. If you have a day bag, carry it.
Starring: Pisano’s pulpit, Galileo’s lamp, and the remains of a saint.
(See “Pisa Duomo” map, here.)
ExteriorThe Duomo is the centerpiece of the Field of Miracles’ complex of religious buildings. Begun in 1063, it was financed by a galley-load of booty ransacked that year from the Muslim-held capital of Palermo, Sicily. The architect Buschetto created the Pisan Romanesque style that set the tone for the Baptistery and Tower. Five decades later (1118), the architect Rainaldo added the impressive main-entrance facade (which also leans out about a foot).
The lower half of the church is simple Romanesque, with blind arches. The upper half has four rows of columns that form arcades. Stripes of black-and-white marble, mosaics, stone inlay, and even recycled Roman tombstones complete the decoration.
• Enter the church at the facade, opposite the Baptistery.
The 320-foot nave was the longest in Christendom when it was built. It’s modeled on a traditional Roman basilica, with 68 Corinthian columns of granite (most shipped from Sardinia in 1063) dividing the space into five aisles. But the striped marble and arches-on-columns give the nave an exotic, almost mosque-like feel. Dim light filters in from the small upper windows of the galleries, where women worshipped. At the center of the gilded coffered ceiling is the shield of Florence’s Medici family; the round symbols around its edges are thought to represent medicinal pills—an allusion to the literal meaning of their name (Medici = “doctors”). This powerful merchant and banking family took over Pisa after its glory days had passed.
• Hanging from the ceiling of the central nave is...
Galileo’s LampThe bronze incense burner is said to be the one (actually, this is a replacement for the original) that caught teenage Galileo’s attention one day in church. Someone left a church door open, and a gust of wind set the lamp swinging. Galileo timed the swings and realized that the burner swung back and forth in the same amount of time regardless of how wide the arc. (This pendulum motion was a constant that allowed Galileo to measure our ever-changing universe.)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was born in Pisa, grew up here on Via Giuseppe Giusti, and taught math at the university (1584-1591). Legend says he dropped things off the Tower to time their falls, fascinated by gravity (see sidebar on here).
• In the apse (behind the altar) is the...
Apse MosaicThe mosaic (c. 1300, partly done by the great artist Cimabue) shows Christ as the Ruler of All (Pantocrator) between Mary and St. John the Evangelist. The Pantocrator image of Christ is standard fare among Eastern Orthodox Christians—that is, the “Byzantine” people who were Pisa’s partners in trade.
As King of the Universe, Christ sits on a throne, facing directly out, with penetrating eyes. Only Christ can wear this style of halo, divided with a cross. In his left hand is a Bible open to the verse “Ego Lux Sum Mundi”—“I am the light of the world.” While his feet crush the devil in serpent form, Christ blesses us with his right hand. His fingers form the Greek letters chi and rho, the first two letters of “Christos.” The thumb (almost) touches the fingers, symbolizing how Christ unites both his divinity and his humanity.
DomeLook up into the dome—the heavens open, and rings of saints and angels spiral up to a hazy God. Beneath the dome is an inlaid-marble, Cosmati-style mosaic floor. The modern (and therefore controversial) marble altar and pulpit were carved by a Florentine artist in 2002.
• Near the center of the church you’ll find...
Giovanni’s Pulpit (1301-1311)The 15-foot-tall, octagonal pulpit by Giovanni Pisano (c. 1240-1319) is the last, biggest, and most complex of the four pulpits by the Pisano father-and-son team. Giovanni’s father, Nicola, started the family tradition four decades earlier, carving the pulpit in the Baptistery. Giovanni grew up working side-by-side with his dad on numerous projects. Now on his own, he crams everything he’s learned into his crowning achievement.
Giovanni left no stone uncarved in his pursuit of beauty. Four hundred intricately sculpted figures smother the pulpit, blurring the architectural outlines. In addition, the relief panels are actually curved, making it look less like an octagon than a circle. The creamy-white Carrara marble has the look and feel of carved French ivories, which the Pisanos loved. Originally, this and the other pulpits were frosted with paint, gilding, and colored pastes.
At the base, lions roar and crouch over their prey, symbolizing how Christ (the lion) triumphs over Satan (the horse, as in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse).
Four of the pulpit’s support “columns” are statues. The central “column” features three graceful ladies representing Faith, Hope, and Charity, the three pillars of Christianity. They in turn stand on the sturdy base of knowledge, representing the liberal arts taught at the U. of Pisa. Another column is Hercules, standing contrapposto, nude, holding his club and lion skin. Nearby, Lady Church suckles the babies of the Old and New Testaments, while at her feet are the Four Virtues, including Justice (with her scales), Moderation (modestly covering her nakedness), Courage (holding a lion), and Wisdom (with a horn of plenty).
Around the top of the pulpit, Christ’s life unfolds in a series of panels saturated with carvings. The panels tilt out from the top, so the viewer below has a better look, and they’re bordered on top with a heavy cornice as a backdrop. Since the panels are curved and unframed, you “read” Christ’s life less like a nine-frame comic strip and more like a continuous scroll.
The story unfolds from left to right, beginning at the back near the stairs:
1. Story of Elizabeth and Zechariah: John the Baptist’s parents.
2. Nativity: Mary lounges across a bed, unfazed by labor and delivery. Her pose is clearly inspired by carved Roman sarcophagi (which you can see in the Camposanto Cemetery), showing the dearly departed relaxing for eternity atop their coffins. Mary and the babe are surrounded by angels (above) and shepherds (right).
3. Adoration of the Magi: The Wise Men ride in with horses and camels.
4. Presentation in the Temple: On the left side, Joseph and Mary hold Baby Jesus between them. On the right side of the panel, Giovanni adds the next scene in the story, when the nuclear family gets on a donkey and escapes into Egypt.
5. Massacre of the Innocents: Herod (at the top) turns and gestures dramatically, ordering the slaughter of all babies. A mother (bottom left corner) grabs her head in despair. Giovanni uses thick lips and big noses to let the faces speak the full range of human emotions. The soldiers in the tangled chaos are almost freestanding.
6. Kiss of Judas: Jesus is betrayed by a kiss (left side).
7. Crucifixion: An emaciated Christ is mourned by his followers, who turn every which way. A Roman horseman (bottom right corner) rides directly away from us—an example of Renaissance “foreshortening” a century before its time.
8. and 9. Last Judgment: Christ sits in the center, the dead rise from their graves, and he sends the good to heaven (left) and the bad to hell (right).
Giovanni was a better pure sculptor than his father. Armed with more sophisticated chisels, he could cut even deeper into the marble, freeing heads from the stone backdrop, creating almost freestanding, 3-D figures. Where Nicola shows figures either facing forward or in profile, Giovanni mastered the difficult three-quarters angle.
If the pulpit seems a bit cluttered and asymmetrical, blame Mussolini. Originally, Giovanni built the pulpit standing on the right side of the altar (the traditional location). But after a massive fire in 1595 (when the roof burned), the pulpit was disassembled and stored away for three centuries. In 1926, they pulled it out of storage, reassembled it on this spot...and ended up with pieces left over (now in other museums), leading scholars to debate the authenticity of the current look.
• Find the following two sights in the right (south) transept, near the back of the church. First, enter the Ranieri Chapel to take a look at...
St. Ranieri’s BodyIn a glass-lined casket on the altar, Pisa’s patron saint lies mummified, encased in silver at his head and feet, with his hair shirt covering his body. The silver, mask-like face dates from 2000 and is as realistic as possible—derived from an FBI-style computer scan of Ranieri’s skull.
Ranieri Scuggeri (1117-1161) was born into the city of Pisa at its peak, when the Field of Miracles was a construction zone. (Ranieri was one year old when this Duomo was consecrated in thanks for Pisa’s lucrative victory over the Muslim Saracens.) The son of a rich sea-trader, Ranieri chose the life of a hard-partying, popular, touring musician. Backstage one night, he met a mysterious stranger who changed his life. Ranieri was inspired to take his musical instrument and set it on fire, while opening his arms to the heavens (à la Jimi Hendrix). He returned to his father’s shipping business and amassed a fortune. Then, one day, he smelled something funky—his own money. He gave it all away, joined a monastery, and put on a hair shirt.
The former wandering troubadour, traveling salesman, and pilgrimaging monk finally settled down in his hometown of Pisa. He devoured the Bible, then used his showmanship to wow audiences here—in the Duomo—when he took the stage atop the pulpit to deliver spirited sermons.
Ranieri, honored in grand style on June 16 and 17, is cause for Pisa’s biggest local event—the Luminara—celebrated along the Arno with tens of thousands of candles lining the buildings and floating on the river. The next day, rowing teams play a game of capture-the-flag, racing to a boat in the Arno and shimmying up a long rope to claim the prize.
• To the left of the chapel, look on the wall to find...
Emperor Henry VII’s TombPause at the tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, whose untimely death plunged Pisa into its centuries-long decline. Henry lies sleeping, arms folded, his head turned to the side, resting on a soft pillow.
This German king (c. 1275-1313) invaded Italy and was welcomed by Pisans as a nonpartisan leader who could bring peace to Italy’s warring Guelphs and Ghibellines. In 1312, he was crowned emperor by the pope in Rome. He returned to his base in Pisa and was preparing to polish off the last opposition when he caught a fever (or was poisoned by a priest) and died. Ghibelline Pisa was suddenly at the mercy of Guelph rivals such as rising Florence, and Pisa never recovered.
• Exit the church and walk around to its back end (facing the Tower), where you’ll find the...
Bronze Doors of St. Ranieri (Porta San Ranieri)Designed by Bonanno Pisano (c. 1186)—who is thought by some historians to have been the Tower’s first architect—the doors have 24 different panels that show Christ’s story using the same simple, skinny figures found in Byzantine icons. (The doors are actually copies; the originals are housed—but not always on display—in the Duomo Museum.)
The story begins in the lower right panel (“Magis”), as the three Wise Men ride up a hill, heading toward...the panel to the left, where tiny Baby Jesus lies in a manger while angels and shepherds look down from above. Above the manger scene, King Herod (“Erodi”) sits under a canopy (in Pisan Romanesque style) and orders a soldier to raise his sword to kill all potential Messiahs. The terrified mother pulls her hair out. In the panel to the right, John the Baptist stands under a swaying palm and baptizes the adult Jesus, who wears the rippling River Jordan like a blanket.
Cast using the lost-wax technique, these doors were an inspiration for Lorenzo Ghiberti’s bronze doors in Florence.
Nave