PISA Andrea (Pisano Andrea)

(ca. 1290 - ca. 1348)
Real name Andrea da Pontedera (Andrea da Pontedera). Born c.. 1290 in the town of Pontedera, near Pisa.
Until 1330 Andrea Pisano worked on the decoration of the facade of the cathedral in Orvieto, and then began work on the doors of the Baptistery in Florence, which lasted for 8 years. To work on these large gilded bronze doors, which are now at the southern entrance (originally they were opposite the Cathedral), he organized a large sculpture studio, marked the beginning of the Florentine school of sculpture. Doors are made of bronze inserted into the frame 28 plates with reliefs, of which 20 - scenes from the life of John the Baptist, and the remaining 8 - allegorical images of virtues. Reliefs are simple in composition and subject and beautifully inscribed in the internal frame-shaped complex Quadrifolium.

Approximately in 1340 by Andrea Pisano was appointed chief master Florentine cathedral. He built houses for the clergy (demolished in 1826) and continued construction of the Campanile, begun by Giotto. For her, he made a series of marble reliefs in the lower tier of the drawings of Giotto. Around 1343, Andrea moved to Pisa. Finally, in 1347 he returned to Orvieto, and became the chief master of the cathedral. Andrea Pisano died during the great plague of 1348.