The figure in center corner is Fortitude (sometimes called Hercules), an early pre-Renaissance rendering of a male nude influenced by Roman art. The panel to the top left is Nativity, likewise with Roman influences. To the left is the Adoration of the Magi.

Nicola's first recorded work, the freestanding hexagonal pulpit in the baptistery of Pisa, bears the signature nicola pisanus and the date 1260. The work constitutes the most accomplished synthesis of French Gothic and Classical elements and incorporates a programme of great complexity, using concepts derived from the sermon Civitas Dei, Domus Dei of Federico Visconti, Archbishop of Pisa (reigned 1254-1277). In the first two panels the main source of inspiration was late Roman sculpture.