PETER BARNET: We know the artist who carved the pulpit in Pisa: Giovanni Pisano, one of the most famous artists of the Middle Ages. And he's known for a very theatrical style; and I think you can see something of that here. It's the puffed-out cheeks, exaggerated poses. You can see that he's used a drill in the hair in some cases to create deep shadows and so forth.

GRIFFITH MANN: The other thing that the sculptor has done is really twisted the forms of the two angels as they're stacked one on top of each other, so that their bodies turn in different poses and positions. There is this tremendous spiraling sense of animation that's been given to the group as a result.

PETER BARNET: I think it's important with all sculptures and works of art, when possible, to try to have a sense of their original context, and this context certainly was a very public one in the middle of one of the great cathedrals of Europe. And it was a very large space, perhaps not very well lit. Broad gestures and theatricality were an effort to make sure the figures could be seen and read from a distance.

NARRATOR: Hear cellist and composer Joan Jeanrenaud respond to this sculpture in music. Press PLAY.