ble for the figures which they contain,
which stand out in high relief, all but severed from the background,
a work of great difficulty. He likewise designed the church and
convent of S. Domenico at Arezzo, for the lords of Pietramela who
built it, and at the request of the bishop Ubertini he restored the
Pieve of Cortona, and founded the church of S. Margherita for the
friars of St Francis, on the highest ground in that city. The fame of
Niccola was continually on the increase, owing to these works, so
that in 1267 he was invited by Pope Clement IV. to Viterbo, where,
among many other things he restored the church and convent of the
Friars Preachers. From Viterbo he went to Naples to King Charles, who
having defeated and slain Curradino on the plain of Tagliacozzo,
founded a wealthy church and abbey on the spot, for the burial-place
of the large number of men who had fallen on that day, ordaining that
prayers should be offered for their souls both day and night by many
monks. King Charles was so delighted with the work of Niccola in this
building that he loaded him with honours and rewards. On the way back
from Naples to Tuscany Niccola stayed to take part in the building of
S. Maria at Orvieto, where he worked in the company of some Germans,
making figures in high relief in marble for the front of that church,
and more particularly a Last Judgment, comprising both Paradise and
Hell; and as he took the greatest pains to render the souls of the
blessed in Paradise as beautifully as he possibly could, so he
introduced into his Hell the most fantastic shape of devils
imaginable, all intent on tormenting the souls of the damned. In this
work not only did he surpass the Germans who were working there, but
even himself, to his great glory, and because he introduced a great
number of figures and spared no pains, it has been praised even to
our own day by those whose judgment does not extend beyond such
circumstances.

Among other children Niccola had a son called Giovanni, who was
always with his father, and under his care learned both sculpture and
architecture, so that in the course of a few years he became not only
the equal of his father, but his superior in some things. Thus, as
Niccola was already old, he withdrew to Pisa and lived quietly there,
leaving the control of everything to his son. At the death in Perugia
of Pope Urban IV., Giovanni was sent for to make the tomb, which he
executed in marble; but it was after