Niccolo da Pisa
architect and sculptor; b. about 1207; d. 1278.
At about fifteen, he went with Emperor Frederic II to Naples, where he was employed on the Castel Capuano and Castel del Ovo. In 1233 he made the bas-relief of the "Deposition" over one of the side doors of the cathedral of S. Martino at Lucca. Niccolo's chief works are the pulpits of the Baptistery at Pisa, and the cathedral of Siena. The Pisan pulpit is signed Nicola Pisanus, with the date 1260. It is the first important work of modern sculpture which is based on a study of the antique. The models were found in certain Roman remains at Pisa. About 1265 Niccolo began the Arca di S. Domenico at Bologna. (See Agnelli, G., Niccolo dell' Arca, and Buonarroti.) The contract for the great pulpit of the cathedral of Siena is signed September 29, 1266. In 1274 Niccolo went to Perugia to design the fountain of the piazza. (See Giovanni Pisano.) The twenty-four statuettes about the basin are attributed to him. Many important buildings are ascribed to Niccolo by Vasari without corroboration.
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