Niccolò di Piero Lamberti

Who was Niccolò di Piero Lamberti?

Niccolò di Piero Lamberti, also known as Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti, Niccolo Aretino, Niccolò d'Arezzo and as il Pela, was an Italian sculptor and architect. Little is known about his life other than that he was married in Florence in 1392. His son, Piero di Niccolò Lamberti, was also a sculptor, and the two are notable for exporting the Tuscan style of sculpture to Venice, where they were active in the late 1410s and 1420s.

By 1391 he was working on the Porta della Mandorla of the Duomo in Florence. In 1401 he was one of the artists who participated in the contest that was held to design the North doors of the Baptistery, won by Lorenzo Ghiberti. In 1408 he was chosen as one of three sculptors to create one of the seated Evangelists at the Florence Cathedral. The statue of St. Mark for the Florence Cathedral was completed in 1415 and is now housed at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence. He was later active in both Venice and Bologna. In Venice, his significant role in the sculpture of the upper storey of St. Mark’s façade is notable. In addition to his statue of St. Luke at Orsanmichele, he created St. James the Major, on the southern façade for the tabernacle of The Guild of Furriers and Skinners. Lamberti is also responsible for two series of capitals at Orsanmichele, one on the right side of the arcade of the eastern façade and one on the left side of the arcade of the southern façade.