Figure sculpture adorns the lowest ränge of paneling in the first stage of the base, the designs believed to be by Giotto, and partly executed by him, partly by Andrea Pisano, Lucca della Robia and others. Also, in the upper stage of the base the lower ränge of paneling is ornamented with a series of standing figures in small, pointed arched niches, by Donatello, and others. Browning makes the incompleteness of this tower serve his argument of the superior interest attaching to the less "perfect" things of art. « Tis a life-long toil tili our lump be leaven — The better! What's come to perfection perishes. Things learned on earth we shall practice in heaven: Works done least rapidly, Art most cherishes. Thyself shalt afford the example Giotto! Thy one work, not to decrease or diminish, Done at a stroke, was just (was it not) 'Ol 91 Thy great Campanile is yet to finish." 1 Referring to the well-known anecdote of the envoy of Benedict IX who, when visiting Giotto, asked for a drawing to carry as a proof of his skill to the Pope.
