Pisano

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the surname of several distinguished artists of Pisa, very important in the early history of art in Italy. GIUNTA PISANO, or GIUNTA DI GIUSTINO of Pisa, is the earliest known Tuscan painter, lived in the 13th century. Giunta was anterior to Cimabue, and to him belongs the merit of reviving painting in Italy. NICCOLA PISANO, born about 1206. He was equally distinguished as sculptor and a architect, and must hold the same rank in the former art that Giunta does in painting. He distinguished himself as early as 1225 at Bologna, where he executed the tomb of San Domenico. Niccola was also a great architect; he executed the church of the Frari at Venice; he was the pioneer of the Renaissance in Italy, in sculpture and in architecture. He died in 1278. GIOVANNI PISANO, the son and assistant of Niccola, and likewise one of the greatest of the early sculptors and architects of Italy; born in Pisa in 1240, died in Pisa in 1320, and was placed in the same tomb with his father in the cemetery of Campo Santo, which he designed. ANDREA PISANO was another early artist of Pisa, but nearly a century later than Giunta: he was a sculptor architect, and the friend of Giotto. And drea was born about 1270. Of several works still extant by Andrea, the bronze gates of the Baptistery of St. John at Florence are the most important. These two gates are still perfect; the exact date of their execution is dis' puted, whether they were finished in 1330, or only commenced in that year. The city gates and towers were also of his designing, as well as several important buildings. He died in Florence, in 1349.