Pisano, Giovanni, << pee SAH noh, joh VAHN nee >> (1248?-1314?), was an Italian sculptor and architect. His father, Nicola Pisano, was also a sculptor. Together, they combined the styles of French Gothic art and classical Roman art in works that influenced artists of the Italian Renaissance.
Giovanni’s masterpiece is a hexagonal pulpit (1301) in the Church of Sant’ Andrea at Pistoia. The pulpit is decorated with five panels that portray episodes related to the life of Jesus Christ. The panels show the Gothic influence in their dramatic composition and in the emotional character of the action.
Giovanni was probably born in Pisa. He began his career about 1265, working with his father on a pulpit in the Cathedral of Siena. Many art historians believe that Giovanni later designed the cathedral’s front, which combines Gothic elements with the earlier Romanesque style.
See also Sculpture (Italian Renaissance sculpture).
