Nicola Pisano

Nicola Pisano, also Niccolò Pisano (* 1205-1207 in Pisa or Apulia, † 1278 ) was a sculptor and architect.

Life

Pisano, son of a stonemason, gave the Italian sculpture a new boom, which eventually led to a complete renaissance.

His sculptural masterpieces are the polygonal marble pulpit in the Baptistery of Pisa ( 1260 ) and in the Cathedral of Siena ( 1266-1268 ), their balustrades are decorated with many figures reliefs from the New Testament. In addition, Pisano adorned the grave monument of Saint Dominic in Bologna with reliefs and the marble fountain in Perugia (1277-1280) with reliefs and statuettes in 1260 and started the construction of the Baptistery in Pisa.

Pisano extends far beyond his immediate predecessors.

Though he retained the traditional, predominantly Byzantine compositional motifs; but he has given through the study of antiquity the impetus for a new form of education, which eventually led to the immediate study of nature.

We are little informed as the Vasari ascribed buildings were almost all completely rebuilt over the term Pisano as an architect.

Of his students were Arnolfo di Cambio and Fra Guglielmo Agnelli, and Pisano's son, Giovanni Pisano.