Nicola Pisano was an Italian sculptor and architect.
Background
Pisano was born about 1206. Though he called himself Pisanus, from Pisa, where most of his life was spent, he was not a Pisan by birth. There are two distinct accounts of his parentage, both derived mainly from existing documents. According to one of these he is said to have been the son of "Petrus, a notary of Siena; " but this statement is very doubtful, especially as the word "Siena" or "de Senis" appears to be a conjectural addition. Another document among the archives of the Sienese Cathedral calls him son of "Petrus de Apulia. " Most modern writers accept the latter statement. Those, on the other hand, who, with most of the older writers, prefer to accept the theory of Niccola's origin being Tuscan, suppose that he was a native of a small town called Apulia near Lucca.
Education
It is believed that he gained his early instruction in the arts of sculpture and architecture in Apulia.
Career
As early as 1221 he is said to have been summoned to Naples by Frederick II, to do work in the new Castel del l'Uovo. This fact supports the theory of his southern origin, though not perhaps very strongly, as, some years before, the Pisan Bonannus had been chosen by the Norman king as the sculptor to cast one of the bronze doors for Monreale Cathedral, where it still exists.
The earliest existing piece of sculpture which can be attributed to Niccola is a beautiful relief of the Deposition from the Cross in the tympanum of the arch of a side door at San Martino at Lucca; it is remarkable for its graceful composition and delicate finish of execution. The date is about 1237.
In 1260, as an incised inscription records, he finished the marble pulpit for the Pisan baptistery; this is on the whole the finest of his works.
Achievements
Connections
His son Giovanni Pisano was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect.