seen in certain other ancient letters engraved on
the marble under the portico, between the doors. On the said facade are
certain figures, and under the portico many scenes in marble from the
life of S. Martin, in half-relief, and in the Greek manner. But the
best, which are over one of the doors, were made 170 years after by
Niccola Pisano and finished in 1233, as will be told in the proper
place; the Wardens, when these were begun, being Abellenato and
Aliprando, as it may be clearly seen from certain letters carved in
marble in the same place. These figures by the hand of Niccola Pisano
show how much improvement there came from him to the art of sculpture.
Similar to these were most, nay, all of the buildings that were erected
in Italy from the times aforesaid up to the year 1250, seeing that
little or no acquisition or improvement can be seen to have been made in
the space of so many years by architecture, which stayed within the same
limits and went on ever in that rude manner, whereof many examples are
still to be seen, of which I will at present make no mention, for the
reason that they will be spoken of below according to the occasions that
may come before me.

In like manner the good sculptures and pictures which had been buried
under the ruins of Italy remained up to the same time hidden from or not
known to the men boorishly reared in the rudeness of the modern use of
that age, wherein no other sculptures or pictures existed than those
which a remnant of old Greeks were making either in images of clay or
stone, or painting monstrous figures and covering only the bare
lineaments with colour. These craftsmen, as the best, being the only
ones in these professions, were summoned to Italy, whither they brought
sculpture and painting, together with mosaic, in that style wherein
they knew them; and even so they taught them rudely and roughly to the
Italians, who afterwards made use of them, as has been told and will be
told further, up to a certain time. And the men of those times, not
being used to see other excellence or greater perfection in any work
than that which they themselves saw, marvelled and took these for the
best, for all that they were vile, until the spirits of the generation
then arising, helped in some places by the subtlety of the air, became
so greatly purged that about 1250, Heaven, moved to pity for the lovely
minds that the Tuscan soil was producing every day, restored them to
their first cond