Arnolfo di Cambio

Arnolfo di Cambio (ärnôl`fō dē käm`byō), b. c.1245, d. before 1310, Italian architect and sculptor. He was Nicola Pisano's chief assistant on the Siena pulpit, but he soon began to work independently on important tomb sculpture. He designed admirable monuments to Cardinal Annibaldi (St. John the Lateran, Rome); Pope Adrian V (Viterbo); and Cardinal de Braye (c.1282; Orvieto). These works became the model for Gothic funerary art. Arnolfo is recognized as the foremost architect of his era. In 1296 he was in charge of construction of the cathedral in Florence. He is said to have had a hand in designing other major buildings in Florence, including the baptistery, the Church of Santa Croce, and the Palazzo Vecchio. The monumental character of Arnolfo's work has left its mark on the appearance of Florence.

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Arnolfo di Cambio

(born c. 1245, Colle di Val d'Elsa—died 1301/10, Florence) Italian sculptor and architect active in Florence. He studied under Nicola Pisano and assisted him on the pulpit for Siena Cathedral (1265–68). In 1277 he went to Rome, where he worked for Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily. He also designed and constructed monuments, including the tomb of Cardinal de Braye in San Domenico, Orvieto. In 1296 Arnolfo returned to Florence to undertake his most important commission, the design of the Duomo (the cathedral of Florence) and the carving of statues for its facade. Other buildings in Florence attributed to him include the Palazzo Vecchio and the church of Santa Croce. The structural and decorative elements of Santa Croce and the Duomo have a unity, balance, and a lightness of movement that demonstrate Arnolfo's complete mastery of the late 13th-century Gothic architectural vocabulary. His works embody the transition between the late Gothic and Renaissance architectural sensibilities.