Nanni di Banco

Nanni d'Antonio di Banco ( 1384 – 1421) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence. He was a contemporary of Donatello - both are first recorded as sculptors in the accounts of the Florence Duomo in 1406, presumably as young masters. 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. 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 Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti, 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. 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.