Background
Andrea Posano was born in 1270 in Pontedera, Italy.
Andrea Posano was born in 1270 in Pontedera, Italy.
Andrea Pisano became a pupil of Giovannithat his chief works were executed, and the formation of his mature style was due rather to Giotto than to his earlier master.
Andrea's work before 1330 is unknown.
In 1347 he was appointed architect to the duomo of Orvieto, which had already been designed and begun by Lorenzo Maitani.
The bronze doors of the Baptistery, which now adorn the south portal, are Andrea's masterpiece.
According to a document of April 2, 1330, Andrea's wax model for the doors was finished.
The doors, which were hung by March 15, 1336, are inscribed with Andrea's name.
They consist of two large bronze wings decorated with 28 gilded reliefs set in quatrefoils.
The lower 8 frames, 4 on each leaf of the doors, show the Seven Virtues plus Humility.
The upper 20 frames tell the story of John the Baptist.
In the narrative reliefs he relied on the mosaic cycle in the dome of the Baptistery and on Giotto's murals in the Peruzzi Chapel, Sta Croce, both of which tell the story of the Baptist.
Andrea's style in these reliefs is Gothic and much closer to Giotto than to the Byzantine style of the mosaics. The reliefs are medium high with, usually, a few figures moving across a shallow platform before architectural or landscape elements.
The movements, dignified and restrained, spring from the rhythms Andrea established across the surface by deeply folded drapery and graceful, swaying postures.
The figure sculpture is, in general, subordinate to the overall architectural framework of the portal. Andrea was also responsible for a number of marble reliefs (1337 - 1340) on the two lowest registers of the Campanile of the Florentine Cathedral (now in the Cathedral Museum); in style they are similar to the bronze doors.
A group of life-size kings, prophets, and sibyls (also in the Cathedral Museum) were intended to decorate niches in the Campanile.
Though done more or less in Andrea's style, they are probably not autograph works.
Two statues of Christ and St. Reparata (in the same museum), of remarkable quality, are commonly attributed to Andrea.
Andrea Pisano had two sons, Nino and Tommaso-both, especially the former, sculptors of considerable ability.
