Agnelli was a pupil of the well-known sculptor
Nicola Pisano, who modelled on classical
Greek and
Roman ideas. Agnelli was born and there joined the
Dominican Order in 1257, as a lay brother. He was soon engaged in work on the convent of the brethren at Pisa and built the
campanile of the
Badia a Settimo, near
Florence. His best work is the series of marble reliefs executed, in collaboration with Pisano, for the famous tomb of
St Dominic in the church of that Saint at
Bologna. The figures on the funeral urn, in mezzo-rilievo, are about two feet high. Agnelli's work on the posterior face of the tomb deals with six Dominican legends: the
Blessed Reginald smitten by a distemper; the Virgin Mary healing a sick man and selecting the habit for the Friars Preachers; the same man freed from a terrible temptation by holding St Dominic's hands; Pope
Honorius III having his vision of St Dominic supporting the falling
Lateran Basilica; Honorius examining the Dominican rule, and his solemn approbation of it. This work afforded little scope to Agnelli's imaginative powers, but its masterly execution raised his esteem to second only to his master, Nicola Pisano. On the other hand, the figures show some of the characteristic stiffness and lack of finish in the extremities of the time. They are also crowded. Agnelli and Nicola also embellished the upper cornice of the urn with
acanthus leaves and birds. In 1293, Agnelli worked at
Orvieto Cathedral. ==References==