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PISTOIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 653 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PISTOIA , or PIsT0JA (anc. Pistoriae), a See also:

town and episcopal see of See also:Tuscany, See also:Italy, in the See also:province of See also:Florence, from which it is 21 M. N.W. by See also:rail. Pop. (1906), 27,127 (town); 68,131 (See also:commune). It is situated on a slight See also:eminence (210 ft.) near the Ombrone, one of the tributaries of the See also:Arno. It is on the site of the See also:Roman Pistoriae, which is hardly mentioned in See also:ancient times, except for the destruction of See also:Catiline's forces and the slaughter of their See also:leader near it in 62 B.C., and as a station on the road between Florentia and Luca; and earlier still by See also:Plautus, but only with jesting allusion to the similarity of the name to the word pistor (See also:baker). Hardly any See also:inscriptions of the ancient town have been found; but excavations in 1902 (see G. Pellegrini in Notizie degli Scavi, 1904, p. 241) in the Piazzo del Duomo led to the See also:discovery of a large private See also:house, which belonged to the end of the 1st See also:century B.C. Some See also:mosaic pavements were found, belonging perhaps to the 3rd century A.D., while the house appears to have fallen into ruin at the beginning of the 5th. Remains of four subsequent periods were discovered above it.

It was found that the tradition that the See also:

cathedral occupied the site of a See also:temple of See also:Mars was ground-less; for the house appears to have extended under it. See also:Ammianus See also:Marcellinus (5th century) mentions Pistoriae as a See also:city of Tuscia Annonaria. During the See also:middle ages Pistoia was at times a dangerous enemy to Florence, and the See also:scene of See also:constant conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; it was there that the See also:great party struggle took See also:place which resulted in the creation of the Bianchi and See also:Neri factions (see See also:Dante, Inferno, See also:xxiv. 121 to end). In 1302–06 it was besieged and eventually taken by the armies of Florence and See also:Lucca, and in 1325 it became subject to Castruccio of Lucca. In 1351 it was obliged to surrender to Florence, and thenceforth shared its See also:fate. The city is still surrounded by walls, dating from shortly after the See also:siege of 1302–06; while two inner lines of streets represent two earlier and inner lines of See also:wall. In the See also:early development of See also:architecture and See also:sculpture Pistoia played a very importantpart; these arts, as they existed in Tuscany before the See also:time of NiccolaPisano, can perhaps be better studied in Pistoia than anywhere else; nor is the city less See also:rich in the later See also:works produced by the school of sculptors founded by Niccola. In the 14th century Pistoia possessed a number of the most skilful artists in See also:silver-See also:work, a wonderful specimen of whose See also:powers exists now in the cathedral--the great silver See also:altar and frontal of St See also:James, originally made for the high altar, but now placed in a See also:chapel on the See also:south See also:side. The cathedral is partly of the 12th century, with a See also:porch and See also:facade with small arcades—in See also:black and See also:white See also:marble, as is the See also:case with several other churches of Pistoiabut was remodelled in the 13th century, and modernized inside in the worst See also:taste. Besides the silver altar it contains many See also:fine works of sculpture; the See also:chief are the See also:monument of Cino da Pistoia, lawyer and poet, Dante's contemporary (1337), by Cellino di Nese, surrounded by his scholars, and Verrocchio's finest work in marble, the monument to See also:Cardinal Forteguerra (1474), with a large figure of See also:Christ, surrounded by angels, in high See also:relief. The See also:clay See also:model for it is in the South See also:Kensington Museum.

The monument has unfortunately been altered. The octagonal See also:

baptistery is by Cellino di Nese (1339). Among the earlier churches the See also:principal is Sant' See also:Andrea, enriched with sculpture, and probably designed by Gruamons and his See also:brother Adeodatus in 1136; in the See also:nave is Giovanni See also:Pisano's magnificent See also:pulpit, imitated from his See also:father's pulpit at See also:Pisa. Other churches of almost equal See also:interest are S. Giovanni Fuorcivitus (so called because it was outside the See also:line of the earliest, pentagonal, See also:enceinte of the middle ages), with one of the See also:long sides elaborately adorned with small arcades in the See also:Pisan See also:style, in black and white marble, also with sculpture by Gruamons (1162) on the facade. Within is a beautiful See also:group of the Visitation by Luca della Robbia. There is also a fine pulpit by Fra Glsglielmo dell' Agnello of Pisa (1270). S. Bartolomeo in Pantano is an interesting See also:basilica of 1167. See also:San See also:Francesco al See also:Prato is a fine See also:church of the end of the 13th century with interesting frescoes of the school of See also:Giotto. San Domenico, a See also:noble church, begun in 1294, contains the beautiful See also:tomb of Filippo Lazari by Bernardo and See also:Antonio See also:Rossellino (1462–1468). In addition to its fine churches, Pistoia contains many noble palaces and public buildings.

The Palazzo del Commune and the Palazzo Pretorio, once the See also:

residence of the See also:podesta, are both fine specimens of 14th-century domestic architecture, in See also:good preservation. The quadrangle of the latter contains many well-painted armorial See also:bearings of the podestas. The Ospedale del Ceppo, built originally in the 13th century, but remodelled in the 15th, is remarkable for the reliefs in enamelled and coloured terra-See also:cotta with which its exterior is richly decorated. Besides various medallions, there is a See also:frieze of figures in high relief extending along the whole front, over its open See also:arcade. The reliefs consist of a See also:series of See also:groups representing the Seven Works of See also:Mercy and other figures; these were executed by Giovanni Della Robbia between 1514 and 1525, and, though not equal to the best work of Luca and Andrea, are yet very fine in conception and model-See also:ling, and extremely rich in their See also:general decorative effect. The last on the right was added in 1585 by Paladini. The See also:industries of Pistoia include See also:iron and See also:steel works, especially manufactures of See also:glass, See also:silk, See also:macaroni, woollens, See also:olive oil, See also:ropes, See also:paper, vehicles and See also:fire-arms. The word "See also:pistol" is derived (apparently through pistolese, a See also:dagger—dagger and pistol being both small arms) from Pistoia, where that weapon was largely manufactured in the middle ages.

End of Article: PISTOIA

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