Biography

Pietro Vassalletto was an Italian sculptor belonging to a family of artists active in the 12th-14th centuries in Rome. Two Roman families of marbleworkers (marmorati) operated on a vast scale at this period. Cosmati and Vassalletto. At Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, San Giovanni in Laterano and San Lorenzo fuori le Mura the carving and mosaic decoration are the work of these families. The responsibility for the entire work in the cloister of San Giovanni in Laterano can be attributed to the Vassalletto family.

The tabernacle in San Lorenzo (1148) and the candelabra in San Paolo fuori le Mura (c. 1170) are the main examples of the work by the first generation of the Vassalletto family. The bishop's chair and two ambos in the San Lorenzo fuori le Mura were carried out by the Vassalletto workshop in the second quarter of the 13th century.