Benedetto Antelami
Benedetto Antelami, (born c. 1150, probably Lombardy
[Italy]—died c. 1230, Parma), Italian sculptor and architect considered
to have been one of the greatest of his time.
Little is known of his life. It is
believed that he served his apprenticeship in sculpture at
Saint-Trophîme in Arles, Fr., and that this service may have influenced
his sensitivity to French (particularly Provençal) stylistic
developments. It is thought that he also belonged to the magistri
Antelami, a civil builders’ guild located in the Lake Como region of
present-day northern Italy. One of his earliest signed works is the
Deposition from the Cross, a relief sculpture (dated 1178) located in
the right transept of the cathedral of Parma. Between 1188 and 1218
Antelami worked on various sculptural and architectural elements of the
cathedral of Borgo San Donnino (now Fidenza) near Parma. In 1196 he
started work on the construction and decoration of the magnificent
baptistery of Parma cathedral (completed 1270). His last work is
believed to have been the decoration and (at least in part) the
construction of the church of Sant’Andrea at Vercelli, the architecture
of which successfully combined Tuscan Romesque with Gothic
characteristics (such as flying buttresses, rose windows, and ribbed
vaulting) and won him lasting renown.
Benedetto Antelami. The Deposition from the cross, from the Duomo of
Parma
Benedetto Antelami. King David. c. 1200. Stone. Cathedral, Fidenza
