RAMO DI PAGANELLO

Italian sculptor. No signed or documented work by him survives. A series of late 13th- and early 14th-century documents suggest a talented but personally difficult artist who visited, or perhaps worked in, northern Europe. On the basis of this information some scholars have conjectured that Ramo was responsible for works of the highest quality in Siena, Orvieto, and Assisi.

Documents of 1281 and 1288 connecting him with Siena CathedralGLOSSARYThe principal church of a province or diocese, where the throne of the bishop is placed. For reasons lost to time and tradition, a cathedral always faces west - toward the setting sun. The altar is placed at the east end. The main body, or nave, of the cathedral is usually divided into one main and two side aisles. These lead up to the north and south transepts, or arms of the cross, the shape in which a cathedral is usually formed. have inspired the attribution of four splendid busts, two male and two female, modelled in high reliefGLOSSARYA sculptural work in which all or part projects from the flat surface. There are three basic forms: low relief (bas-relief, basso rilievo), in which figures project less than half their depth from the background; medium relief (mezzo-rilievo), in which figures are seen half round; and high relief (alto rilievo), in which figures are almost detached from their background., on the interior of the lateral façadeGLOSSARYthe front or principal face of a building, especially one elaborately constructed; a blind façade is a façade that is purely decorative and does not relate to the structure of the building. portals. Orvieto Cathedral documents (1293 and 1310) have led to attributions of relief sculpture on the façade and on interior capitals of the building, as well as the design for the bronzeGLOSSARYAn alloy of copper (usually about 90 per cent) and tin, often also containing small amounts of other metals such as lead or zinc. Since antiquity it has been the metal most commonly used in cast sculpture because of its strength, durability, and the fact that it is easily workable - both hot and cold - by a variety of processes. It is easier to cast than copper because it has a lower melting-point, and its great tensile strength makes possible the protrusion of unsupported parts - an advantage over marble sculpture. The colour of bronze is affected by the proportion of tin or other metals present, varying from silverish to a rich, coppery red, and its surface beauty can be enhanced when it acquires a patina. Christ with Apostles in the architraveGLOSSARYIn classical architecture, the main beam resting on the capitals of the columns (i.e. the lowest part of the entablature); the moulding around a window or door. of the south portalGLOSSARYa doorway. A portal recessed in several steps was frequently used in Romanesque architecture; this meant that the often relatively small entrance was given considerable emphasis on the façade. and a wood statuette of the Virgin and Child (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Orvieto).

The monument of Giovanni di Brienne in the lower church of San Francesco, Assisi, commissioned between 1326 and 1328, has also been attributed to Ramo because of its sophisticated Tuscan style with north European overtones. These attributions may seem individually plausible, but collectively they cancel one another out, and at present reconstruction of Ramo's oeuvreGLOSSARYThe complete body of works created by an artist. is highly speculative.