Background
Andrea Pisano, also called Andrea da Pontedera, was born circa 1290 in Pontedera near Pisa.
Andrea Pisano, also called Andrea da Pontedera, was born circa 1290 in Pontedera near Pisa.
Pisano first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and worked with him on the sculpture for S. Maria della Spina at Pisa and elsewhere.
He had worked on the façade of the cathedral of Orvieto before Jan. 1, 1330, when he became "master of the doors" of the Baptistery of Florence. These large, gilded bronze doors, which are now in the south portal (originally they faced the cathedral), occupied Andrea eight years. They consist of a bronze frame and twenty-eight inset panels, of which twenty portray the life of St. John the Baptist and eight depict the virtues. The compositions are simple, fit their quatrefoil inner frames admirably, and tell the stories clearly. By 1340 Andrea was major magister of the cathedral. In this capacity he built the canonica (destroyed in 1826) and continued the erection of Giotto's campanile. For the latter he executed the lower row of marble reliefs after designs of Giotto. After the expulsion of the Duke of Athens from Florence in 1343, Andrea went to Pisa. Finally he returned to Orvieto in 1347 as master of the works of the cathedral.
Andrea Pisano had two sons, Nino and Tommaso. Both sons eventually succeeded him as Master of the Works at Orvieto Cathedral.
