Guglielmo Agnelli
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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 sc ...
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 ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 the Leaning Tow ...
.


Biography

Agnelli was a pupil of the well-known sculptor
Nicola Pisano Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; /1225 – ) was an Italian sculpture, sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Ancient Rome, Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered ...
, who modelled 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
ideas. Agnelli was born and there joined the
Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
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, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
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, the mon ...
, near
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
. His best work is the series of marble reliefs executed, in collaboration with Pisano, for the famous tomb of
St Dominic Saint Dominic, (; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he and his orde ...
in the church of that Saint at
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
. The figures on the funeral urn, in mezzo-rilievo, are about two feet high. Agnelli's work on the posterior face of the tomb deals with six Dominican legends: the
Blessed Reginald Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified * Blessed, a saint title assigned by the Eastern Orthodox Church to various saints, typical ...
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 of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...
; Honorius examining the Dominican rule, and his solemn approbation of it. This work afforded little scope to Agnelli'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. Agnelli and Nicola also embellished the upper cornice of the urn with
acanthus Acanthus (: acanthus, rarely acanthuses in English, or acanthi in Latin), its feminine form acantha (plural: acanthae), the Latinised form of the ancient Greek word acanthos or akanthos, or the prefix acantho-, may refer to: Biology *Acanthus ...
leaves and birds. In 1293, Agnelli worked at
Orvieto Cathedral Orvieto Cathedral () 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 1986, the cathedral in Orvieto has been the episcopal seat ...
. 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 Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...
is also unknown. In 1304, he was engaged in 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 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. Vincenzo Marchese describes Agnelli as not only the foremost among the Dominican sculptors, but also "among the grandest Italian sculptors, far excelling all contemporaries. Arnolfo, Giovanni Pisano, and his master excepted".


References

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