By Michael J. McKenna, Headmaster
September 10, 2025
Each June, I have the privilege of leading our rising seniors on a two-week study tour of Greece and Italy—a trip we affectionately call the Grand Tour. While every stop is rich in history and meaning, one moment stands out to me year after year: our visit to the Duomo of Siena, the Cathedral of Siena.
At the end of our tour through this remarkable cathedral, I always gather the students at the pulpit. You might ask, what’s so remarkable about a pulpit? At first glance, it might seem unremarkable compared to the cathedral’s soaring ceilings or intricate mosaics. But this pulpit, carved by Nicola Pisano between 1265 and 1268 from Carrara marble—the very marble favored by Michelangelo—is a masterpiece of theology and education in stone.
The pulpit is adorned with seven panels depicting the life of Christ, from the Nativity to the Last Judgment. But what captures my attention, and what I point out to the students, is not what’s above but what’s beneath the pulpit, which most tourists pass by without a second thought.
The structure rests on a central column surrounded by four exterior columns. At the base of the central column stand eight female figures. Supporting the four outer columns are four lions: two males with goats in their mouths and two females tenderly carrying lion cubs.
When I ask students what these figures mean, they always offer creative answers, but so far, none have identified their true significance.
The lions represent the church. The two male lions symbolize the church militant, boldly conquering the enemies of God, as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” The two female lions represent the nurturing church, caring for her cubs.
And the eight figures at the center? They represent the seven liberal arts—the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric – the model at Mars Hill Academy) and the quadrivium (mathematics, astronomy, geometry, and music). In other words, they represent a classical education.
The eighth figure, however, holds a place of honor: she is Theology, the queen of the sciences, who ties them all together. Without sound theology, we cannot rightly understand the world around us.
Notice where these symbols appear—at the base of the pulpit. Pisano’s pulpit reminds us that the faithful proclamation of God’s Word requires a classical education, tied together by sound, Christ-centered theology.
In many ways, that pulpit in Siena embodies what we strive to do every day at Mars Hill Academy. We are the only PK-12 school in the Cincinnati area that combines the classical method of the trivium with robust, Christ-centered theology to tie it all together – both necessary for the health of the church, the Bride of Christ.