1280/1320 - Probably Pisa - Marble - Saint Evangelist Between Twisted Columns

Extraordinary marble slab depicting a Holy Evangelist, once part of a funerary monument. Probably Pisa, 1280-1320. The Evangelist, standing on a suppedaneum, is recognizable as such by the blessing hand and the other holding a book, and is placed between two twisted columns resting on a simple base and ending with soft acanthus leaf capitals. The halo is round, solid and tilted forward downwards, to be visible to the eyes of a spectator looking from below, given the height at which the monument was placed, once resting on columns in the manner of a pulpit. The architectural space in which the Saint is inserted, not coherent in terms of size as was still the case in the first phase of the Gothic in Italy, is identified by a corbel that supports a frieze with sculpted geometric motifs (relief triangles and flat rectangles). A motif that is repeated (but vertically) also on the left side surface of the slab, which was visible as it formed an angle with another perpendicular slab. The other side has the joint for an adjacent slab. Above, joints and iron remains are traces of an element (a frieze? a lid?) covering the monument. An object of extraordinary quality and feeling, in excellent condition except unfortunately for the saint's nose and a small crack at the bottom left, practically invisible and which did not cause any missing parts to the piece. Dim. cm 31.5 x 16 x 61H