Angel of the Annunciation (fragment)

This high relief, which was a fragment when it was originally acquired, was further damaged by fire in 1945. It is from the pulpit made by Nicola Pisano for the cathedral in Siena. In 1543 the pulpit was relocated, new steps were built, and a base platform was added; in the course of these alterations, the Angel of the Annunciation was removed, the only corner figure on the parapet to be taken off. Even as a torso, this figure (with a pilaster from the pulpit parapet at its back) attests to the tense excitement that is a hallmark of the pulpit sculptures in Siena Cathedral. It is considered the first work of medieval Italian sculpture equal in its human totality to the works of Gothic cathedral sculpture in France and Germany.