Bonanno Pisano

Bonanno Pisano (born in Pisa; fl. 1170s–1180s) was an Italian sculptor, mixing Byzantine and classical elements. Giorgio Vasari attributed the realization of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to him in his Vite. Pisano was born in Pisa and worked there most of his life. In the 1180s, he departed for Monreale, in Sicily, where he completed the doors to the cathedral before returning to Pisa, where he died. Pisano was buried at the foot of the leaning tower, where his sarcophagus was discovered in 1820. Bonanno contributed to the Tower of Pisa in 1175, one year after the construction began.

Between March 1179 and March 1180, he created the bronze Porta Reale of the cathedral of Pisa, which was destroyed in the 1595 fire.