We have very little information regarding the Florentine sculptor Nanni
di Bartolo, known as Rosso and therefore nothing is known of his
artistic formation or early career. He is first mentioned in documents
when he was commissioned to carry out a statue for the Cathedral of
Florence in 1419. He worked in the Cathedral construction yard until at
least 1422, in fact, between 1420 and 1421, he was completing a statue
for the bell tower that had been started and then abandoned by Bernardo
di Pietro Ciuffagni. Later the sculptor also worked with Donatello on
the Abraham and Isaac, again for the bell tower, and then carried out
the Obadiah on his own in 1422. Although he took careful note of the
lessons of the Renaissance, Nanni di Bartolo's work shows the
inflections and rhythmic elegance of the late Gothic style of the
school of Ghiberti.
Documents tell us that Nanni was working in the Veneto area between
1424 and 1435. He carried out some work in Venice, though there is no
clear definition of what it was, either for the decoration of the
Basilica of San Marco or for the Palazzo Ducale. The Brenzoni Monument
in the Church of San Fermo in Verona, carried out in around 1426, is
definitely by this artist, as well as other decorative parts of the
portal of the Church of San NiccolÚ of Tolentino, carried out between
1432 and 1435: the lunette with the Madonna and Child, and the two
Saints at the sides. We do not have certain information about his
return to Florence, because the last document mentioning the sculptor
(1451), seems to refer retrospectively to a marble that he roughed out
before his departure for the Tuscan city.
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