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The Romanesque marble pulpit by Guglielmo, sculpted between 1159 and 1162, was carried out for the Cathedral in Pisa. It remained there until 1310 when it was replaced with the new pulpit, the work of Giovanni Pisano. Guglielmo's pulpit was dismantled and transferred to Cagliari, a city then under the Pisan rule, where it arrived in 1312. The work was reassembled in the central nave of cathedral.
It is the oldest surviving example of a type made in Tuscany for many years. It comprises eight panels, each with two scenes from the Life of Christ, and has supporting columns resting on lions. Stylistically, decorative motifs relate to the carvings on the lower part of Pisa Cathedral façade and to some panels (Pisa, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Pisa) attributed to Rainaldo and his shop. Other panels in the same museum, from the wall adjacent to the pulpit, have been attributed to Guglielmo.
During 17th century Baroque restorations the pulpit was dismembered and the various parts placed in their current positions. What was once a single large pulpit, since 1669 is located on the sides of the central portal, divided into two parts leaning against the counter-façade and each supported by two columns and two semi-columns, so as to form two small choirs, devoid of any function because inaccessible.
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