Giovanni Pisano: a Rebirth of Monumentality

Giovanni Pisano - Plato - c. 1280 - Stone - Duomo, Siena (click photo for larger image)Sometimes called the only true Gothic sculptor in Italy - Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – after 1314) ultimately is viewed as a proto-Renaissance artist. He began his career under the classicist influence of his father, Nicola, and carried on this tradition after his father's death, continuously reintegrating the antique style into more northerly and contemporary Gothic forms. He would be a great inspiration for later sculptors such as Donatello and Michelangelo. The image here shows the figure of Plato from the west façade of Siena Cathedral. Giovanni did not share his father's taste for decorative grace. In fact, Giovanni appears to have reacted against this, and Tuscan sculpture entered a stylistic phase which was anything but graceful, finished and delicate. It was truly monumental.