Thus even Orcagna's masterpiece may strike us not as the plaything of a Pheidian genius condescending for once to "breathe through silver," but of a consummate goldsmith taxing the resources of his craft to form a monumental jewel.[79] The facade of Orvieto was the final achievement of the first or architectural period of Italian sculpture.

Giotto, Andrea Pisano, and Orcagna, formed the transition to the second period.

To find one characteristic title for the style of the fifteenth century is not easy, since it was marked by many distinct peculiarities.

If, however, we choose to call it pictorial, we shall sufficiently mark the quality of some eminent masters, and keep in view the supremacy of painting at this epoch.

A great public enterprise at Florence brings together in honourable rivalry the chief craftsmen of the new age, and marks the advent of the Renaissance.