Medieval Art & Architecture

In both architecture and sculpture, the first influence came from the north. Lombard masons filled Tuscany with simple Romanesque churches, although it wasn’t long before two distinctive Tuscan forms emerged: the Pisan style, characterized by blind rows of colonnades, black and white zebra stripes, and lozenge-shaped designs; and the ‘Tuscan Romanesque’ which developed around Florence, notable for its use of dark and light marble patterns and simple geometric patterns, often with intricate mosaic floors to match (the Baptistry and San Miniato are the chief examples).

From the large pool of talent working on Pisa’s remarkable cathedral complex in the 13th century emerged Italy’s first great sculptor, Nicola Pisano, whose Baptistry pulpit, with its naturalistic figures derived from ancient reliefs, finally broke away from the stiff hierarchic figures of Byzantium.