280 Mr. A. Taylor on the Gothic Ornaments 



firmation of this fact. The side that abuts upon the river re- 

 mains in its original state, and is all of the Lombardic school. 

 It is scarcely necessary to add, that the conclusion here formed 

 was, that the church in its present state is the work of two very 

 different periods. It only remains to examine its history, and 

 the share which Giovanni da Pisa may be supposed to have 

 had in its construction. 



That the chapel was not built by this master is certain, if, 

 as it is supposed, it was founded in 1230. Vasari, indeed, 

 says expressly that the people of Pisa having something to do 

 to the little church of St. Mary delta Spi?ia, confided the 

 work to Giovanni (the time is about 1280); adding that he 

 brought many of its ornaments to that perfection in which we 

 now see them*. These ornaments Morrona supposes were 

 the statues which adorn the original fabric, and adds that 

 neither the first nor the second architect of the church is 

 known. 



It may now be permitted to indulge a few conjectures with 

 regard to the history of the building before us. The donation 

 of the relic already mentioned appears to furnish the best 

 guide in the inquiry. As a common bridge-foot chapel, the 

 oratory of St. Mary, plain as it was, suited the purposes for 

 which it was intended ; but when it had become the depository 

 of so sacred a treasure, it was right that the exterior should 

 assume a character of higher dignity and pretension ; and the 

 means of effecting this purpose being afforded by the destruc- 

 tion of the bridge, the chapel was enlarged upon what had 

 hitherto been the public way, and the original fabric decorated 

 in a corresponding style. The nearest approximation to the 

 time of the supposed alteration will be derived from the follow- 

 ing dates. The first notice of the relic adduced by Morrona 

 is in the year 1433 ; but from an account of the procession of 

 Corpus Domini in an old chronicle, it appears that it was exist- 

 ing in the chapel in 1362f. The Ponte Nuovo is thought by 

 the same writer to have been pulled down soon after the year 

 1400. In 14-54 a sum of money was granted for the restora- 



• " — avendosi a fare aleune cose nella picciola ma ornatissima chicsa di 

 Santa Maria delta Spina, furono date a Giovanni, it quale messovi mono, con 

 I'ajuto di alcuni suoi giovani condusse molti ornamenti di quell' oratorio a quella 

 perfezione che oggi si vede : la quale opera, per quello eke si puo giudicare, 

 dovctte esser in que' tempi tenuta miracolosa, e tanto jriii avendovi fatto m una 

 figura il ritratto di Niceola di naturale, come seppe meglio' — Vasari, Vita di 

 N. e G. da Pisa, p. 280. Niceola, the father, was well known to, and much 

 respected by the Pisans. 



•f " E appresso con la ditta processione vifii la Spina di Crista, la quale lifue 

 posta in capo alia sua jmssione, la quale Spina e nella ckiesa di Santa Maria 

 del Pontc Nuovo, &c. ; Muratori, Iter, Ital. Script, torn. xv. col. 1036. 



tion 



