Bonanno Pisano (born in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

; ) was an Italian sculptor, mixing

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and classical elements.

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

attributed the realization of the

Leaning Tower of Pisa The Leaning Tower of Pisa ( ), or simply the Tower of Pisa (), is the , or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable Foundation (engineering), foundation. The tower is on ...

to him in his '' Vite''. Pisano was born in Pisa and worked there most of his life. In the 1180s, he departed for Monreale, in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, where he completed the doors to the cathedral before returning to Pisa, where he died. Pisano was buried at the foot of the leaning tower, where his

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

was discovered in 1820. Bonanno contributed to the Tower of Pisa in 1175, one year after the construction began.

The Leaning Tower Of Pisa

Bonanno Pisano is said to have used his sculping skills to contribute to the design of the

. Since his name was found at the foot of the tower in 1820. Nobody quite knows how he contributed exactly, but is expected to have been one of the sculptors that designed the original blueprints. (all of this is based off of other sources) Between March 1179 and March 1180, he created the bronze Porta Reale of the

cathedral of Pisa Pisa Cathedral (), officially the Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (), is a medieval Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the three st ...

, which was destroyed in the 1595 fire.

The San Ranieri gate in Pisa

From 1186 on, he constructed the San Ranieri door, at the southern

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

of the Duomo, depicting the main episodes of the Life of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

The gate of the cathedral of Monreale

Constructed between 1185 and 1186, the gate is signed ''Bonanno civis pisanus''. It depicts five scenes of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

at the bottom, starting with

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

, and five scenes of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

at the top, ending in "Christ and Mary in the glory of Paradise”. Pisa cathedral, door of St Ranier.jpg, The San Ranieri door Pisa cathedral, door of St Ranier, Bonanno Pisano, late 12th ct., detail.jpg, Left wing of the San Ranieri door Brogi, Giacomo (1822-1881) - n. 3457 - Pisa - Cattedrale - Antica porta in bronzo - Bonanno.jpg, The San Ranieri gate in a late 19th ct. photography by Giacomo Brogi Main bronze door - Cathedral of Monreale - Italy 2015.JPG,

Monreale Cathedral Monreale Cathedral () is a Catholic church in Monreale, Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily. One of the greatest existent examples of Norman architecture, it was begun in 1174 by William II of Sicily and is dedicated to the Nativity of the V ...

gate

Joseph Bonanno ancestry

The Italian-American mafia boss

Joseph Bonanno Joseph Charles Bonanno (born Giuseppe Carlo Bonanno; ; January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002), sometimes referred to as Joe Bananas, was an Italian-American crime boss of the Bonanno crime family of New York City, which he ran from 1931 to 1968. ...

claimed to be a descendant of Pisano, and was known to joke about the Leaning Tower of Pisa saying that "even that was crooked".

References

With very little help from Tyler Talen (editing)

Sources

* Gothic sculptors 12th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors {{Italy-sculptor-stub