Arnolfo di Cambio

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Arnolfo di Cambio (* around 1240 / 45 in Colle di Val d'Elsa , † 1302 / 1310 in Florence ) was an Italian architect and sculptor . By Giorgio Vasari , he was mistakenly referred to as "Arnolfo di Lapo" because he assumed that the father of Arnolfo was a German architect named Lapo.

The statue of Charles of Anjou dressed as a senator. The influence of antiquity on Arnolfo can be seen on this statue.

life and work

According to a later tradition, Arnolfo di Cambio learned to draw at Cimabue and began his artistic career as a sculptor. He received appropriate training from Niccolò Pisano in Pisa , later in Siena , where he worked under his teacher from 1264-67 on the pulpit of the cathedral. There it is documented for the first time in 1265. Arnolfo was presumably already involved in the tomb of St. Dominic ( Arca di San Domenico ) in the Church of San Domenico in Bologna, which was created shortly before under the direction of Niccolò .

From 1276 Arnolfo stayed in Rome, where he a. a. worked for Karl von Anjou . In a statue kept in the Capitoline Museum today , he represented the monarch in the form of a Roman senator. The attribution to Arnolfo is not without controversy, however. Other important Roman works by Arnolfo include the tombs of Cardinal Annibaldi († 1276) in the Lateran Basilica and of Pope Boniface VIII († 1303) in St. Peter's Church , which the Pope commissioned at the beginning of his pontificate. There are z. B. the anecdote that when asked what was still missing in addition to the beauty of the tomb , a bishop replied: "That you (Boniface) lies in it".

Part of the tomb of Riccardo Cardinal Annibaldi in the Lateran . This was Arnolfo's first major work in Rome. The Kosmaten inlay is clearly recognizable .

He also created the canopies over the altars of St. Paul Outside the Walls (1285) and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere (1293) as well as the seated figure of St. Peter in St. Peter (around 1290/1300). This is crowned with a tiara every year on Peter and Paul Day . Another custom is to rub them on the foot , which rubs off heavily.

The bust of Boniface from the former facade of the Florence Cathedral, made by Arnolfo di Cambio. It can be seen today in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence.

In addition to his Roman activities, Arnolfo was in Perugia around 1280 , where he worked on the great fountain begun by Niccolò Pisano . In addition, the small fountain in pede for was created there as an independent work, the fragments of which can now be viewed in the Umbrian National Gallery. In Orvieto , Arnolfo created the tomb of Cardinal de Braye for the Church of Saint Domenico in 1282. Arnolfo's sculptural work is characterized by the block-like unity and calm contouring of his figures, some of which are based on ancient examples and skilfully combine them with Northern European High Gothic. Some of his work can be counted among the forerunners of the Renaissance . Giotto di Bondone took his characters as models and Brunelleschi also took them up.

The tomb that Arnolfo made for Boniface VIII and that is now in the Vatican Grottoes. The Pope has a two-tiered tiara here for the first time.

In his later years, Arnolfo, who by now had extensive workshops in Rome and Florence, increasingly turned to architecture, which he supposedly had learned from a German “Master Jacob”.

In 1296 he took over the post of chief master in the new building of the Romanesque-Gothic Florentine Cathedral (the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and landmark of the city of Florence). However, it didn't get far beyond the planning. The facade begun by Arnolfo was only completed on its lower storey and torn down in 1588. The sculptures created by Arnolfo for this purpose are now in the Cathedral Museum. The western sections of the nave, which he had begun, largely fell victim to Francesco Talenti's change of plan in the middle of the 14th century , so that today we can only guess at Arnolfo's architectural elements in the Florentine Cathedral.

In addition to this major project, he was also credited with a decisive contribution to the construction of other highly significant Florentine buildings, for example he planned and built the Franciscan church of Santa Croce and its cloisters, begun in 1294 , restored the Baptistery of San Giovanni and planned the floor plan of the Signoria's palace , the Palazzo Vecchio . The planning of the Florentine founding city ( terra nuova ) Castel San Giovanni (from 1296) is also attributed to Arnolfo since Vasari. He may also have planned the Orvieto Cathedral, which was built from 1290 onwards .

His portrait is said to be on a painting by Giotto in the death of St. Francis in the church of Santa Croce, as one of the figures speaking to one another in the foreground. Giorgio Vasari included a biography of Arnolfo in his vite .

literature

in alphabetical order by authors / editors

Web links

Commons : Arnolfo di Cambio  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the exhibition in the Florence Cathedral Museum 2005/6: Arnolfo: alle origini del Rinascimento fiorentino , Dec. 21, 2005 - Apr. 21, 2006. Catalog, ed. Enrica Neri Lusanna, Pagliai Polistampa, Florence 2005, ISBN 88-8304-999-3 .
personal data
SURNAME Arnolfo di Cambio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arnolfo di Lapo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian architect and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH around 1240
PLACE OF BIRTH Colle di Val d'Elsa
DATE OF DEATH 1302 or 1310
Place of death Florence