Artist

(b. ca. 1410, Milano, d. 1473, Napoli)

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Details

Italian sculptor, architect and medallist (Pietro di Martino da Milano). He began his career in Dalmatia and was active at an important bottega in Ragusa (now Dubrovnik) from 1431. His friendship and collaboration with the Dalmatian sculptor Francesco Laurana may have begun at this time. Many of the works produced by Pietro in Ragusa were lost in the earthquake of 1667: all that survives are the reliefs of the Small Fountain (1437-38) and the capitals of the Rector's Palace (1445), which show a restrained style with geometric, blocklike forms. Other documented works (destroyed) were the Large Fountain (1437-41), a statue for the Franciscan Monastery (1441), the fountain of the monastery of S Chiara (1449) and the Tabernacle for the monastery of S Blasio (1456). In 1452 he went to Castel Nuovo in Naples, to work on the Triumphal Arch of Alfonso of Aragon with Laurana and numerous other sculptors. He and Laurana are documented in France from 1461 to 1464 at the court of René I, King of Naples, Duke of Anjou. There Pietro came into contact with the tradition of Burgundian sculpture and also worked as medallist, producing portraits of René and other medals. In 1463 he executed Les Images et le mystere de St Magdalen (lost) for the church of St Maxe in Bar-le-duc and a relief of Two Dogs Fighting (in situ) for a room in the castle of Bar-le-duc. In 1464 he returned to Italy, to complete the Triumphal Arch. The Arch was the most important sculptural monument in southern Italy in the second half of the 15th century. Many scholars believe that Pietro da Milano himself was the architect of the Arch; he undoubtedly coordinated this great collaborative scheme during 1465-71 and was responsible for some of the reliefs. Despite the absence of reliable sources, he has been attributed with the central relief depicting the Triumph of King Alfonso and the relief on the intrados of the lower arch with the Departure of Alfonso for the War. The most significant work for the understanding of his style is the high relief with the Coronation of Ferrante, which Pietro carved between 1465 and 1468 after the death of Alfonso (1458). //

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Category	Artists
Artists by letter	P
Artist nationality	Italian