Nanni d'Antonio di Banco ( 1384 – 1421) was an

Italian Renaissance sculptor Italian Renaissance sculpture was an important part of the art of the Italian Renaissance, in the early stages arguably representing the leading edge. The example of Ancient Roman sculpture hung very heavily over it, both in terms of style and t ...

from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

Early life

He was born to artist Antonio di Banco, who worked on the Cathedral of Florence in Florence, Italy. Historians have tried to determine the year of his birth between 1375 and 1390 based on colleagues. Nanni di Banco seemed to have had a close relationship with well known artist

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...

. With this knowledge Nanni’s life timeline circles Donatello’s. In February of 1405 Nanni was enrolled as an artist into the masons’ guild Arte di Pietra e Legname. This guild allowed him to work in the cathedral directly where he began his work as a sculptor. Nanni and his father were commissioned to carve the Isaiah statue for the Cathedral.

Career

Antonio was strictly a stone-carver resulting in the sculpture done by Nanni alone. Nanni was the Magister of his and his father’s workshop where Donatello was recruited from to build the sculpture David. Nanni was selected to carve a sculpture of St. Luke which took him 5 years to complete. He is mostly known for his work in transitioning from gothic to renaissance art.

Colleagues

A contemporary of

and

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

, Nanni was a sculptor in fifteenth-century Florence. He is well known for his sculpture group ''Four Crowned Martyrs (Quattro Santi Coronati)'' (1412–15) which was commissioned by the stone carvers and wood workers guild for the Church of

Orsanmichele Orsanmichele (; "Kitchen Garden of St. Michael", from the Tuscan contraction of the Italian word ''orto'') is a church in the Italian city of Florence. The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden of the monastery of San Mich ...

. The significance of this work is not only the striking naturalism and individuality of the figures, but also the complexity of construction of a sculpture group.

His Works

Nanni di Banco made a name for himself in the transition from International Gothic art to Renaissance art creating a path for Early Renaissance in Florence. Many of his works are displayed inside the Cathedral, the church and museum of Orsanmichele in Florence. His first major work was a statue of the Isaiah in 1408 for the Cathedral his father worked for. The Quattro Coronati was created in 1416. At this time many artists wanted to depict pagan gods and saints but were hung. Nanni di Banco decided to depict a dialogue between four saints, creating the title. The sculpture not only shows dialogue but also demonstrates the extent to which human behavior can be portrayed by stone. It is easy to find ancient Roman influence on the four sculptures. Many of the faces and togas look similar to ancient Roman republican sculptures. Artists were required to develop a sculpture for the outside of church St. Michele. Nanni’s colleague, Donatello, is credited to sculpt one saint. However, Nanni di Banco portrays a dialogue in which only one of the four men is speaking and the rest are listening, not directly looking at the subject but still engaging in conversation. San Luca is a marble sculpture, in works with the renaissance artist Donatello. Nanni di Banco exploits the themes of humanism and a new proposal to human expression. Furthermore, we can understand how the influence of this movement was to express the outline and the human face through shadowing and posture.

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

includes a biography of Nanni di Banco in his ''

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...

''.

Main works

* Main relief of the ''Assumption'', ''Porta di Mandorla'',

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally co ...

(1414–21) * ''St. Luke'' (1408-1415), Florence Cathedral * ''Quattro Santi Coronati'' (''Four Saints'') (1408–15) -

, Florence

References

External links

National Gallery of Art

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banco, Nanni Di 1384 births 1421 deaths Sculptors from Florence 15th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors