Nicola Pisano
Nicola Pisano (also called Niccolò Pisano, Nicola de Apulia or Nicola Pisanus; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284[1]) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the founder of modern sculpture.[2]
Not to be confused with the Venetian admiral Niccolò Pisani.Shrine of Saint Dominic (Bologna)[edit]
During 1264 he was asked to work on the Shrine of Saint Dominic in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna. He was certainly responsible for the design, but his input was probably minimal. In 1265 he was already at work on the pulpit for the Siena Cathedral. The front side was done in his workshop, partially by Nicola Pisano himself but mostly by his assistant Lapo di Ricevuto. It would almost take 500 years to finish this shrine through the work of famous sculptors: Arnolfo di Cambio, fra Guglielmo Agnelli, Niccolò dell'Arca, the young Michelangelo, Girolamo Coltellini and Giovanni Batista Boudard. The expressive face of saint Dominic, so different from the blander faces in the front panel "Saint Dominic resurrects Napoleone Orsini", is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio.
Conclusion[edit]
Although influenced by the works of Classical Antiquity, Nicola was not simply an imitator. His figures are original creations that came into being through a thorough study and understanding of the antique prototypes and the reinstating of antique representations. His works are the most important precursors of Italian Renaissance sculpture. Surveys of Italian Renaissance art often begin with the year 1260, the year that Nicola Pisano dated his pulpit in the Pisa baptistery.
On the other hand, as the pulpit of the Siena Cathedral shows, Nicola Pisano was still attached to contemporary Gothic art. This characteristic may arise because this pulpit was finished by his son Giovanni Pisano who did not appreciate Antiquity in the same manner. Both styles coexisted for several generations. International Gothic and its variations became briefly more popular in the Early 15th century than the Classicism of the High Renaissance.
Nicola Pisano has pushed 13th-century Tuscan sculpture in the direction of art that integrated the features of Roman art, while simultaneously staying attached to the Gothic art from Northern Europe. The true inheritor of Nicola's classical style was Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1250–1302), whose early death left the field clear for Giovanni Pisano, who, by then, was already pursuing his own mixture of French Gothic and the classical style.
Giorgio Vasari included a biography of Nicola Pisano in his Lives.