Fra Guglielmo Agnelli OP (c. 1238–1313) was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, born in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...

Biography

Agnelli was a pupil of the well-known sculptor

Nicola Pisano Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the ...

, who modeled on classical

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and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

ideas. Agnelli was born and there joined the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of C ...

in 1257, as a lay brother. He was soon engaged in work on the convent of the brethren at Pisa and built the

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church (building), church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many ...

of the

Badia a Settimo The Badia a Settimo or Abbazia dei Santi Salvatore e Lorenzo a Settimo is a Cluniac Benedictine abbey in the comune of Scandicci, near Florence in Tuscany, Italy. It was founded in 1004. On 18 March 1236, by order of Pope Gregory IX, ...

, near

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. His best work is the series of marble reliefs executed, in collaboration with Pisano, for the famous tomb of

St Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scienti ...

in the church of that Saint at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. The figures on the funeral urn, in mezzo-rilievo, are about two feet high. Fra Guglielmo's work on the posterior face of the tomb deals with six Dominican legends: the

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smitten by a distemper; the Virgin Mary healing a sick man and selecting the habit for the Friars Preachers; the same man freed from a terrible temptation by holding St Dominic's hands; Pope

Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...

having his vision of St Dominic supporting the falling

Lateran Basilica The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

; Honorius examining the Dominican rule, and his solemn approbation of it. This work afforded little scope to Fra Guglielmo's imaginative powers, but its masterly execution raised his esteem to second only to his master, Nicola Pisano. On the other hand, the figures show some of the characteristic stiffness and lack of finish in the extremities of the time. They are also crowded. Fra Guglielmo and Nicola also embellished the upper cornice of the urn with acanthus leaves and birds. We know no more of Fra Guglielmo until 1293 when we find him occupied on the

Orvieto Cathedral Orvieto Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Orvieto; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Since 19 ...

. Though his share in the sculptures of this edifice is not fully established, the bas-reliefs are attributed to him. The length of time he spent at Orvieto is also unknown. In 1304, he was engaged on works of sculpture and architecture in his native Pisa, and was called upon to adorn the facade of the

Church of San Michele di Borgo Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

with historical bas-reliefs. These labours, together with his work on other parts of that church, and the construction of a pulpit, engaged him for the remaining nine years of his life. Fra Guglielmo was not only the foremost among the Dominican sculptors, but according to Marachese, ''by reason of his many and important works, deserves to be ranked among the grandest Italian sculptors, far excelling all contemporaries. Arnolfo, Giovanni Pisano, and his master excepted.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnelli, Guglielmo Architects from Tuscany Sculptors from Tuscany 1238 births 1313 deaths People from Pisa 13th-century Italian architects 14th-century Italian architects 13th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 14th-century Italian sculptors Catholic sculptors