Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) publicó en Florencia en 1550 y en 1568, Las vidas de los más excelentes arquitectos, pintores y escultores italianos (Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori), considerado como una de las obras fundadoras de la historia del arte. El autor evoca en el prólogo la construcción del Duomo de Pisa en la edad media, de estilo romano con influencias bizantinas, cuya construcción comienza en el siglo XI bajo la dirección del arquitecto Buschetto.
Vasari describe de la siguiente manera la reutilización practicada durante la construcción, sobre todo para el caso de las columnas, las basas, los capiteles y las cornisas, así como la manera en el que el proyecto ha sido concebido para integrar estos elementos. Al final de este artículo encontrarán un extracto del texto de Vasari en inglés, también consultable en la página del proyecto Gutenberg (biblioteca online).
« From such beginnings design and a general improvement in the arts began to make headway in Tuscany, as in the year 1016 when the Pisans began to erect their Duomo. For in that time it was a considerable undertaking to build such a church, with its five aisles and almost entirely constructed of marble both inside and out. This church, built from the plans and under the direction of Buschetto, a clever Greek architect from Dulichium, was erected and adorned by the Pisans when at the zenith of their power with an endless quantity of spoils brought by sea from various distant parts, as the columns, bases, capitals, cornices and other stones there of every description, amply demonstrate. Now since all these things were of all sizes, great, medium, and small, Buschetto displayed great judgment in adapting them to their places, so that the whole building is excellently devised in every part, both within and without. Amongst other things he devised the façade, which is made up of a series of stages, gradually diminishing toward the top and consisting of a great number of columns, adorning it with other columns and antique statues. »
Texto completo consultable aquí: Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori, Giorgio Vasari